


we're breaking free

by timefornothing



Category: Haikyuu!!, High School Musical (Movies)
Genre: Bokuaka - Freeform, F/F, High School Musical References, KuroKen - Freeform, M/M, lots of volleyball, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-02-01 02:44:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 29,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12695532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timefornothing/pseuds/timefornothing
Summary: it's high school musical but with bokuaka





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i wish i had an explanation for this. i really do.
> 
> not exactly the script but pretty damn close

_The King turned slowly on his dais, spinning so that his cold, lifeless eyes fell upon his. "You want to see true power?" His steel-like voice echoed around the room, ringing in the high ceilings. The King scoffed. "You know nothing of my true power." His scepter lifted into the air, with one strike he brought down--_

"Keiji!"

Akaashi started, almost knocking a pillow off the couch he was sitting on. Blinking quickly, he looked up to see his mother standing in front of him, frowning. She pulled the book out of his hands, looking down at him with a stern expression. With a sigh, she started, "Keiji, honestly. It's New Years Eve. Enough reading."

Akaashi's gaze drifted from his mother's face down to his book longingly. "I was almost done--"

Miss Akaashi lifted a single eyebrow, absolutely mirroring her son's expression. "Have you forgotten about the party?" Akaashi blinked at her, and the frown deepened. "The teen party, down in the lodge? Keiji, for goodness' sakes, get going. I've laid out your best clothes, go and get ready."

All at once, Akaashi remembered. The party, of course. In exchange for his mother letting him stay up to read all vacation, he had promised he'd go to a 'Teen Activity' the resort they were staying in was hosting. And not just any activity, but the big Teen New Years Eve Party. He held back a bitter sigh, keeping it to a remorseful look as he looked back up to his mother. "Can I have my book back, at least?"

She leveled him with a look. "You promise you won't read during the party?"

Akaashi bit back a groan. "Yes, I promise." She watched him for another second, then handed the book to him. She put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him back towards his bedroom. 

"It'll be fun, I promise. You can't spend your whole life just reading, Keiji. Believe, if you could, I would have."

\- - -

Shoes squeaked against the hardwood floors, echoing off the cement walls and high ceilings of the gymnasium at the lodge. A middle-aged man grinned down at his son, shirt soaked through with sweat.

"Come on, Kou, stop leaning to your left. They'll keep aiming it that way if you give it to them, and we can't have that happening in the championship game!"

The younger boy looked back, one silver eyebrow arching up conspiratorially as he stared back at his father. He rearranged his feet carefully, then asked, "Like this?"

The man grinned back. "Just like that." He tossed the ball up, spiking it hard at his son. Bokuto dove to his left, getting there with enough time to send a perfect pass right back up to his father, who cheered.

"Yeah! That's it! Ain't nothin' getting past you!"

A throat cleared, and the two looked over to the doorway where Bokuto's mother stood, hands on her hips. "Figures I'd find you two in here."

Bokuto and his father glanced at each other, then both shrugged and turned back to look at her. Bokuto asked, "What else would we be doing?"

She lifted an eyebrow. "At a ski lodge in Colorado? No idea." Mr. Bokuto nodded in agreeance, and she shook her head, looking back to her son. "It's the last night here! There's the party, remember? For New Years? Koutarou, there's the kids party down where they had those jazzercise classes!"

Bokuto looked at her warily. "Kids party?"

She rolled her eyes. "Teens. Young adults. Now, go! Get a shower! Can't have you running around stinking the place up."

Bokuto sighed, picking up the volleyball that had been rolling across the floor. "One more pepper?" Mrs. Bokuto narrowed her eyes, and Bokuto grinned. "Just one more spike! Just one!" His father nodded again, and she held her hands up in defeat.

"Forgive me for forgetting I lived with two sports nuts. Go ahead, then come right up. Both of you." She pointed at her husband, then turned and walked back out into the hallway. Bokuto grinned, turning to his dad and setting him up. His father spiked it down, and just as before, Bokuto received it perfectly. His father cheered once more, tossing the ball to him before giving him a high five.

"There we go! That's what I want to see in the game."

\- - -

When Akaashi entered the large gym classroom that had been redone for the party, the first thing he noticed was the noise. With so many teens cramped into one room, it was almost deafening as they all tried to be heard speaking over the loud music. He bit back a scowl, keeping it to a small frown as he made his way through the crowd. Idly, he noticed that the music was in fact a karaoke machine and not just some playlist. 

Perfect.

Akaashi smiled awkwardly back at a girl who winked at him, maneuvering around the worst of the crowd to find an unoccupied corner. After another quick glance to make sure his mother didn't have spies anywhere, he pulled his book out of the waistband of his pants, leaning against the wall. While it wasn't his preferred place to read, it certainly beat not reading at all. Now, he could finally figure out what that King was up to. Ignoring the announcer-like voice in the background saying something about finding volunteers for the next song, he flipped to the page where he had left off.

_The King scoffed. "You know nothing of my true power." His scepter lifted into the air, with one strike he brought down--_

Blinding light hit him directly in the face.

Akaashi squinted, looking up and around. Who had turned the lights on in the room? Then he realized the music had paused, and a sudden cheering began. Slowly, his eyes adjusted, and it dawned on him that he had a spotlight on him.

Oh no.

"Ayyyy there we go! Volunteers one and two, come on up here!"

Akaashi blinked. He most certainly had not volunteered for anything. A hand gripped his shoulder, pushing him forward, and across the room, he heard more cheering and shouting. The people around him slowly propelled him towards the stage, and he gripped his book tightly, trying to make his feet go in the opposite direction. Volunteer for what? What was happening? Where were they taking him?

His feet hit the edge of the stage, and cold fear gripped his throat. Absolutely not, no way, he did not sing, _this was some sort of joke, he was not going up on stage--_

He was going up on stage. The host took his hand and pulled him up, a lazy smile stretching across their face. They were tall, with dark curly hair not unlike his own, but Akaashi couldn't help but frown at his kind face. 

"I don't sing," Akaashi told him shortly, and the host shrugged.

"Can anyone that does karaoke really sing?"

Akaashi stared at him, and then the second volunteer was also being pushed up onto stage, although he climbed up much less gracefully than Akaashi had. The host said something to him about holding his book for him, and Akaashi numbly tucked the book back into his waistband and watched in horror to find out what unlucky human being had been stuck with him for karaoke.

The first thing he noticed was his hair. How hair could be so upright and so rebelliously silver didn't seem possible, and for a second, he wondered if he was hallucinating some sort of scene from his book. Then the golden eyes blinked at him, just as wide as his own felt, and a warm smile split the face in front of him.

"Uh, hey," they offered awkwardly, yanking on the sleeve of their suit jacket. Akaashi noticed they had thrown the jacket on over jeans and a t-shirt, probably in some sort of attempt to look nice but casually so. Well, it wasn't like his own sweater and pants had required more effort, but he could admire the way the jacket sat on the other boy's shoulders. It fit his form well. 

The host clamped a hand down on both their shoulders, startling Akaashi out of his staredown. He grinned at both of his freshly chosen sacrifices, lowering his voice so the microphones in front of them wouldn't pick him up. "Hey, you know what?" He looked from the other back to Akaashi. "Someday...someday, you might thank me for this."

Akaashi's eyebrows dropped. "Doubtful."

The other boy snorted loudly, quickly covering up his mouth as an embarrassed flush spread across his face. Akaashi looked at him as the host moved away, and with another sheepish smile, the boy offered his hand.

"I'm Bokuto."

Akaashi hesitated, then took it, shaking it quickly. "Akaashi. I'm sorry you'll have to put up with my horrible singing."

The boy--Bokuto--simply shrugged, posture now more relaxed as he took his hand back. "As long as you don't mind my terrible singing, I think we'll be okay! And hey, if you get nervous, just look at me and I'll dance for you or something." The music started, and after shooting him a thumbs up, Bokuto turned and looked at the screen where the words would appear.

Akaashi watched him, and wondered if karaoke was really so terrible after all.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've had high school musical songs stuck in my head for a week

Bokuto turned around, proudly offering a large mug of hot chocolate. "Here you go! I told them to put extra whipped cream on yours. You look like you like extra whipped cream."

"Thank you," Akaashi muttered, taking the mug and wondering if that was a compliment or not. Considering he did in fact like extra whipped cream, it _was_ factual. Bokuto quickly grabbed his own before leading the way out of the club room and towards an outdoor balcony. With their jackets and hot chocolate, the chill was barely noticeable, but Akaashi still kept his hands wrapped tightly around his mug.

"So, you're seriously not a professional singer or something?" Bokuto asked once again, setting his mug heavily on the table after taking a large gulp. From the way he was breathing with his mouth open, Akaashi was willing to bet he had burnt his tongue. It was more endearing than anything else, and he looked down at his cup to save himself from smiling like a loon.

"I sang in a church choir when I was younger, but nothing more." He shrugged. "They asked me to do a solo once and I nearly fainted."

Bokuto's jaw dropped open, this time not from the hot chocolate. "Seriously? Why?"

"I'm not much for attention," Akaashi answered honestly. "I've never liked being in front of crowds. I was ten at the time. I took one look at the people in front of me, and the next thing I knew, I was staring at the ceiling."

Bokuto laughed in a way that could only be described as a guffaw, and Akaashi looked up, expecting to find him laughing at him. Instead, it looked like he barely believed Akaashi's story. Sure enough, he followed up with, "I never would have guessed! You were like, super good out there tonight."

Akaashi watched the way his golden eyes reflected the warm lighting from inside of the lodge. "Well, that was the first time I've ever done something like that. It was…" He searched for a word, but all he could come up with was, "Super cool. That was so cool."

"It was!" Bokuto set his mug back down, nodding aggressively. "It was so super cool!"

He smirked at the way Bokuto was grinning, asking, "Well, what about you? You certainly didn't sound like an amateur out there."

He grinned in response. "Oh yeah, totally. You're looking at a professional shower singer right here, 'Kaashi. Number one in the tri-state area!" He flexed, an awkward motion in the suit jacket, but Akaashi found himself grinning nonetheless. Bokuto laughed with him, and in the pause of conversation, he finally heard the crowd behind them.

"10!...9!...8!"

Akaashi's eyes widened. Bokuto, who hadn't seemed to notice yet, looked down at Akaashi's mug. "What's up? Too much whipped cream? Is it the not good spray stuff?"

"7!...6!...5!"

"No, not the whipped cream," Akaashi interrupted him quietly. Were they supposed to kiss? That was what people did on New Years, correct? When the ball dropped, you kissed the person you liked. That was what all his friends did. Was he supposed to kiss this complete stranger?

Bokuto stared at him, confused, then his eyes opened comically wide. "Oh, the ball's dropping!"

"4!...3!..."

Well, it's not like he wasn't attractive. Akaashi had noticed right away that the boy he had sang with, while definitely atypical looking, was rather cute. Even if his hair was defying gravity, you couldn't deny that his smile had a certain charm about it.

"2!...1!"

Bokuto looked dumbly at Akaashi as the crowd erupted around them. Instead of lunging at each other the way so many other teenagers were all over the lodge, they watched each other, both of them quiet. Akaashi almost frowned. Why didn't he just do it? Why couldn't he kiss a stranger? Sure, it was something Komi would have done back home, the absolute madman, but Akaashi could be crazy, too. Keiji Akaashi could do something wild!

Bokuto swallowed. "Um, do we--"

"I should go find my mom."

Bokuto blinked, and Akaashi could have kicked himself. He sighed internally, looking down at his hot chocolate. "My mother. I should go find her and wish her a happy New Year."

"Oh."

Akaashi flinched slightly at the tone, but soon, the table was shaking with how hard Bokuto was nodding. "Same! Same, I should, too. I mean, not your mom." Akaashi glanced up through his lashes and spotted Bokuto blushing slightly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, yeah, tell your mom I say happy New Year! But, uh, I should go find my own mom. And dad. Both of them. Um." He cleared his throat, looking at Akaashi hopefully. "I can call you tomorrow, though?"

The shock of the implication hit Akaashi like a brick to the chest. "You don't have my number."

Bokuto physically drooped. "Oh. Right." He looked forlornly at the table, and Akaashi realized that he _wanted_ Bokuto to call him. Sure, he'd most likely never see him again, but he'd had a surprising amount of fun tonight. Quickly, he fished his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it, sliding it across the table and into Bokuto's line of sight. The other boy's eyes widened, looking up at Akaashi in surprise.

He gestured to the phone. "Put your number in."

Instantly, his golden eyes lit up, and Akaashi almost laughed at how Bokuto practically threw his own phone at him. "You too! Put your number in my phone! Wait, let me--" Bokuto cut himself off, quickly lifting up Akaashi's phone and smiling goofily at it. After typing, he handed it back to Akaashi, grinning. "So you don't forget what I look like."

Akaashi looked down at the screen to see that in addition to adding his name _(Bokuto the Amazing Singer!!!!!!!!)_ and his number (a strange area code Akaashi didn't recognize), he had also added a selfie of himself.

"You too!" Bokuto took back his phone from Akaashi, angling the camera at him. "Smile!" Akaashi barely had time to even register what was happening, but Bokuto apparently liked the picture. "That's the face you made when you got up on stage! It's perfect! Your name could use some more emojis though." 

Akaashi looked down once more at the entry in his phone, grinning to himself as he turned and walked back to his room. As he unlocked the door, he realized that he hadn't read any of his book tonight.

"How was the party?" his mother asked when she returned thirty minutes later. Akaashi looked up from his phone, a small smile on his lips.

"Actually...a lot of fun." He looked back to the screen, double tapping to go back to the contacts page, like he had so many times more that night. Bokuto's stupidperfect grin smiled back up at him, a spot of whipped cream still on his upper lip. "Really fun."

\- - -

Bokuto finished picking out the perfect emojis for Akaashi (a microphone, the heart eyes smile, the coffee cup that he could pretend was hot chocolate) and grinned down at his screen. "I don't know if I told you this earlier, but we mostly came here because my mom had a business meeting. And my dad and I played a lot of volleyball, and don't get me wrong, I love volleyball, but this? Tonight was the most fun I've had on this trip. Tonight was the best, 'Kaash." He looked up. "Where do you li--"

Bokuto blinked.

"Akaashi?" Bokuto looked around, trying to see through the few people still wandering around. Despite triple checking, Akaashi seemed to have disappeared. He frowned, looking from the half-drunk hot chocolate back to his phone.

He pulled up the picture of Akaashi, studying it again. It was dim, even with the flash, Akaashi's face mostly lit up by the light coming through the lodge windows. There were snowflakes in his hair, a flush to his cheeks, and even though his eyes were dark, they shone through the confusion of the expression and seemed almost alive.

Bokuto thought he was beautiful. 

"Akaashi," he whispered to himself. 

The name felt right on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's not too many chapters so i'll probably update on wednesdays and then fridays if i get bored
> 
> i'm on tumblr as asahiwasabi come sing with me


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here comes everyone else

The first day back from winter break had always been crazy. Even when they were in elementary school, everyone ran around like they hadn't seen each other in years, screaming and shouting and greeting their friends. Bokuto watched everyone with a grin, saying hi back to the few he passed as he got off the school bus. He took a deep breath of the fresh air and was immediately greeted by a loud shout from someone he knew very well.

"Bokuto!"

Bokuto opened his eyes in time to see the volleyball flying at his face. He caught it just in time, but because of it, couldn't dodge the hug that almost knocked him to the ground.

"How's my best bro doing?"

Bokuto laughed, ruffling one hand in the already messy black hair. "Better than you, Kuroo!" He glanced up to see a few more of their teammates coming at him. "Hey hey hey! Happy New Year!"

Kuroo pulled out from Bokuto's noogie but still kept an arm around him. "Yeah, a happy Wildcat year!" Their teammates cheered, and Kuroo continued grinning as he led the way inside. "In just two short, short weeks, we're going to the championships with you leading us to infinity and beyond!"

Bokuto grinned at him. "Like Toy Story?"

Kuroo smiled back. "Just like Toy Story."

Behind them, their team started up the usual chant. "What team? _Wildcats!_ What team? _Wildcats!"_

Bokuto shouted along with them, twisting sideways so that he and Kuroo could both fit through the doorway while still attached. Kuroo tripped on someone's shoelace, then dodged neatly as someone cleared their throat.

"Move aside, meatheads!"

Two tall boys cleared a path by simply walking through and allowing the crowd to part. Someone let out a whistle, and from Bokuto's left, Iwaizumi scowled. "Looks like the ice queen has returned from the North Pole."

Kuroo snorted, leaning more heavily on Bokuto's shoulder as he righted himself. "Yeah, he probably spent the holidays how he always does."

Bokuto blinked at him. "How's that?"

Kuroo's eyes narrowed under his bangs, much in the way they did when he was about to get a good block in the middle of a game. "With his fangirls, shopping for mirrors." The team began shouting behind them, laughing loudly as Kuroo led them down a hallway lined with lockers. 

Across the hall, in front of the dean's office, Miss Akaashi followed her son and the principal towards the English wing. Akaashi had paid attention well enough when the principal was talking, but now, out in the hallway with so many people around, he was starting to feel a little queasy. Being the new kid was never easy, and as someone who hated being the center of attention, it was even worse as he had gotten older.

"Keiji? You alright?" Principal Takeda asked, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

Akaashi glanced at his mother. "It's my stomach, it's nothing major."

His mother put an arm around him. "Oh, it's always bad on the first day of school. Don't worry, sweetheart, you'll do great. You always do! And don't forget my promise I made that I can't be transferred again until you graduate."

Principal Takeda smiled politely at both of them. "I was the one who got to review your transcripts. You're very impressive, Akaashi. I expect your light will shine very brightly here at East High."

Akaashi almost doubled over. Slightly panicky, he turned to look at his mom. "I refuse to be the school's 'freak genius boy' again."

As always, his mother was the calming presence he needed. She took his face in her hands, smiling down at him. "Then just be Keiji." She kissed him on the forehead. "You don't need to be anything more than that." Akaashi nodded, taking a deep breath. With another welcoming smile, Takeda gestured to the left, and they followed him down the hallway.

\- - -

Bokuto and Kuroo slid into homeroom amidst more shouts from their friends, earning a stern look from Coach Nekomata. Bokuto had been here since he started high school, and he still had no idea why people called him coach. He didn't coach any of the sports teams. He was, however, in charge of the theater department, and Bokuto wondered if that was why. Was acting like a sport?

"Bokuto!" Daichi, another member of the team, waved from the back of the classroom. Ignoring the rest of the students coming in the doorway behind him, Bokuto waved back eagerly, sitting down noisily in the seat.

"Daichi! how was your break?"

Daichi smiled back, instantly relaxing Bokuto. While the rest of the team could be obnoxious and loud, Daichi was always a solid presence. Bokuto may be the ace, but Daichi was captain for a reason. "Pretty uneventful! My grandma was staying with us, so it was mostly puzzles and old movies."

"Puzzles can be exciting," Kuroo grinned at Daichi, also taking his seat, and Daichi frowned at him.

"Not those kind of puzzles, Kuroo."

Bokuto didn't have any idea what puzzles they were talking about, but he knew movies. "Which old movies? My mom loves that Arnold Schwarzhiggy one."

"Schwarzenegger, Bokuto."

"Whatever. The one with the toy he has to get. That one was crazy, I remember when I was little I loved the part where he…" Bokuto's voice dropped away, brows furrowing as he watched someone walk by him. That dark hair...where had he seen it before? He was sure it wasn't someone that went to their school, but he definitely knew it. Kuroo saw who he was staring at and let out a low whistle.

"Damn, who's that?"

Bokuto leaned up in his seat to get a better look, but before he could see anything, a head of artfully disheveled brown hair was right in front of him. Bokuto blinked quickly, pulling back to see Oikawa smiling at him, eyes practically sparkling. How did he do that? Couldn't only disney princesses and anime girls do that?

"Hey heyyy, Bokuto," he sang, waving his fingers. "How was your break?"

Bokuto glanced away again, trying to see around Oikawa to find the person with dark hair. "Hi."

The bell rang, signaling the start of class, but Bokuto ignored it, hoping when everyone sat down he'd be able to finally figure out who he knew but didn't know he knew. Or did he know he knew them?

"--Mr. Bokuto."

Bokuto's head whipped around, barely hearing Daichi's repressed sigh beside him. "Huh?"

Coach Nekomata stood at the front of the class, smiling blithely. "I said I trust that you all had splendid holidays. Did you happen to have a skiing accident that affects your rear, Bokuto?"

Bokuto frowned at him. "What? No?"

Coach Nekomata's smile widened. "Then sit down." Bokuto sat quickly into his seat, tips of his ears burning. Slowly, he felt Kuroo lean forward on his desk.

"You good, bro?" he whispered, and Bokuto nodded, not wanting to turn around and get yelled at again. He did, however, finally realize where he had seen that dark head of hair before. Subtly, he slid his phone out of his pocket, pulling up a contact he had completely forgotten about.

Keiji Akaashi.

Bokuto stared down at the phone, shocked. What the hell was Akaashi doing in his school?

"Sign up sheets for new activities has been posted in the lobby," Nekomata continued. "I encourage you all to check them out, especially our winter musicale. We will have singles auditions for our supporting roles and pairs auditions for our two leads."

Kuroo snorted, not very quietly, and instantly, Coach Nekomata's eyes focused on him. 

"This is a place of learning, Mr. Kuroo, not the volleyball court, and I would appreciate it if you would treat it as such." Kuroo sank lower in his seat, shooting a look at Daichi, who was glaring at him. After clearing his throat, Nekomata finished by adding, "There is also a final sign-up sheet for next week's scholastic decathalon competition. Chemistry club president Kozume Kenma can answer all of your questions about that if you can get him to stop staring at something he should not be looking at during school hours."

Kenma jolted from his seat at the back of the class, earning a smirk from Kuroo and a couple laughs from everyone else as he tried to subtly hide his DS in his jacket pocket. Thinking this was a perfect time for distraction, Bokuto pressed Akaashi's number and watched as his phone started calling him.

Oh god Bokuto was calling Akaashi.

_Why was he calling Akaashi._

A ringtone went off from a few desks away, Bokuto whipped around, eyes wide. Coach Nekomata sighed, retrieving something from his desk. "Ah, I see the cell phone menace has returned to our crucible of learning." Bokuto could barely see a head of dark hair duck down to start searching through a bag as the phone continued ringing. Why did that ringtone sound familiar?

_No way no way no way no way no way--_

Oikawa turned around, glaring at his step brother. "Is it our audition line phone?" He held up his own. "It's not mine, and that's not your ringtone." Ushijima turned to pull out a third phone from his pocket, then both of them flinched as Nekomata descended upon them.

"Oikawa, Ushijima, cell phones." They both frowned--although Bokuto was pretty sure that was Ushijima's default expression--and with a look of injustice, Oikawa dumped all five of their phones into the bucket. Nekomata smiled down at them. "I'll see you in detention."

"Detention?!" Oikawa tried to argue, but Nekomata was already moving on towards the desk a few places away. Bokuto watched, breath stuck in his throat, as Nekomata presented the bucket.

"We have a zero tolerance policy for cell phones in our class, so we will get to know each other and our other rules very well in detention." The person deposited their phone in the bucket, and Nekomata leaned in with a grin. "And welcome to East High, Mr. Akaashi."

Bokuto's heart, which had previously been frozen, instantly began beating a million miles an hour. It was Akaashi! Akaashi was here! In his school! Akaashi was in his school! Why was he in his school? Why was Akaashi in New Mexico at all? Did he follow him? Was he some sort of private eye? Was Bokuto under investigation? Was Akaashi undercover? Was it like 21 Jump Street? Did he--

"Ah, and I see your phone is involved, Bokuto!" Nekomata's voice made him jump, and Bokuto dumbly tried to hide his phone behind his back. Unrelenting, Nekomata presented the bucket. "So we will see you in detention as well."

Kuroo instantly sat up, ignoring Daichi's frantic waves to _shut the fuck up._ "That's not even a possibility, Coach Nekomata." One look had him clearing his throat and ducking his head. "I mean, Your honor. See, because, we have volleyball practice, and Bokuto needs--"

Nekomata interrupted, slinging the bucket over his shoulder nonchalantly. "That'll be 15 minutes for you, Kuroo. Count 'em."

Across the room, Kenma snorted, obviously still bothered by being called out. "That'll be tough, considering he probably can't count that high."

Daichi's mouth dropped open, and Kuroo spun around to glare at him. Bokuto winced, momentarily distracted from his panic mode. So Kenma and Kuroo obviously weren't over their fight yet.

"Kenma, 15 minutes."

Kenma froze, eyes wide. Nekomata spun in a slow circle, watching everyone with a mild glee. "Shall the carnage continue? Holidays are now over, my students. Way over!" Everyone grew silent, and Nekomata looked around. "Now, any more comments and questions for this blessedly short homeroom period?"

Everything was quiet, and then slowly, almost timidly, Ushijima raised his hand.

Nekomata gestured at him, and he cleared his throat. "How were your holidays, Coach Nekomata?"

Kuroo's head hit his desk, Oikawa smacked himself in the face, and even Daichi let out a little groan. Ushijima looked around, confused. "What?" Thankfully, the bell rang, and Oikawa practically dragged him out of the room. Bokuto, mind still spinning, followed the crowd, toying with his backpack strap as he paused outside of the room. While it wasn't the worst homeroom he had ever had, it was definitely the biggest emotional rollercoaster he'd ever been on this early in the day. 

Kuroo punched him on the shoulder, obviously noticing his expression. "Sorry, bro. At least we'll suffer in detention together."

Daichi sighed, "Nekomata has no idea what he's getting himself into with both of you there." The two of them waved, moving on down the hallway while Bokuto hung back. It was a wild chance, but surely there couldn't be two Akaashis with curly dark hair. Bokuto was terrible at math, and even he knew the odds of that were slim. It had to be Akaashi, his Akaashi. Well, not his, but close enough.

Dark hair flashed in front of his face, startling him once more, and Bokuto lunged forward, grabbing the other boy by the shoulder. "Hey!" He smiled, watching as Akaashi-- _his Akaashi_ \--turned around and looked at him, surprise lighting up his face. "Wow, it really is you!"

Akaashi stared at him, then slowly, his face relaxed into something vaguely resembling a hint of a smile. "I don't believe it."

"Me neither!" Bokuto's smile was so wide he felt like it was going to split his face in half. "I ran around all the next day looking for you! I didn't find you but now I did! In my school! How are you in my school?"

Akaashi gave him a strange look. "My mother's company transferred her here to Albuquerque. And I'm sorry, but I had to leave first thing the next morning."

"It's fine!" Bokuto shook his head. "It's totally fine! I just can't believe you're here!"

Akaashi continued giving him the same look. "Why are you whispering?"

"Huh?" Bokuto blinked, then straightened up, taking his hand off of Akaashi's shoulder. "Oh! Sorry!" Akaashi smirked, then turned and continued walking down the hallway as Bokuto kept talking. "I dunno. I, uh, my friends know I went snowboarding and stuff, but they don't really know about the--well, the singing part. Or the you part."

Akaashi lifted a single eyebrow. "Why, too much for them to handle?"

"Not at all!" Bokuto shook his head, struggling to keep up with Akaashi in the crowded hallways. "But you know, you know how friends are. It's, well, it's not really what I usually do on vacations? That was, like, a totally different person."

Akaashi turned into the main hallway, and Bokuto jumped, hurrying to keep up. Wow, Akaashi was a fast walker. "So! Anyways, welcome to my school!" He glanced around, trying to think of something he could show off to Akaashi, to impress him, and saw the bulletin board. "Oh, hey!" Akaashi glanced at him, and he pointed quickly. "Now that Nekomata talked about it so much, I bet you can't wait to sign up for the musical!"

Akaashi slowed down, looking at the board. Bokuto watched him study it, watched the way his lips barely twitched into a smile. While he had noticed Akaashi wasn't exactly big on expressions at the lodge, he was still just as subtle here at school, but there were little tells. It was like watching to see where someone was going to serve. You just had to pay attention.

"Yes, well. I won't be signing up for anything for a while." Akaashi looked back to Bokuto. "I'd like to get to know the school first, get my bearings. However, if you signed up, I'd consider coming to watch."

Bokuto let out a loud laugh. "Ha! Yeah, no, that's completely impossible."

A locker slammed into the wall in front of them, and Bokuto jumped backwards, watching with wide eyes as Oikawa leaned on the door he had just shoved open, probably for dramatic effect. Oikawa smiled slyly at him, voice as honeyed as it was earlier today. "What's impossible, Bokuto? I wouldn't think impossible is even in your vocabulary." He glanced sideways and finally noticed Akaashi, who had taken up frowning directly next to Bokuto. Oikawa's smile barely faltered, but he simpered back at Bokuto, "How nice of you to show the new kid around."

With a flourish, Oikawa pulled a purple gel pen from his pocket and scribbled his 'signature' across the sign up sheet. Bokuto frowned. There wasn't much room left on there at all. Oikawa spun the pen in his hands, turning back to look at Akaashi. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Were you going to sign up as well?" Oikawa tucked the pen behind his ear, turning so that he was leaning casually against the wall. Bokuto thought it didn't look all that comfortable. "My step brother and I have starred in all the school's productions, and we just love having newcomers! There are just so many supporting roles, I'm sure we could find something for…" Oikawa gave Akaashi a once-over, "Bokuto's new friend."

Bokuto grinned. Akaashi was definitely his new friend! He turned to smile at him, then noticed the tight look around Akaashi's eyes. Was he not happy? Did he not want to be his friend?

"No, sorry, we were just looking at the bulletin boards. There's quite a lot going on at this school." Akaashi's gaze drifted from Oikawa to the board, eyeing the signature. He looked back to Oikawa, who stiffened. "Nice penmanship." Oikawa's smile turned into a grimace, but Akaashi was already moving on down the hallway. Bokuto watched him go, a little impressed. He wasn't quite sure what had happened, but usually it was only Kuroo that could get a look like that out of Oikawa. He was definitely impressed.

"So! Bokuto." 

Bokuto looked back to Oikawa, who was now leaning more in his direction. "I missed you over vacation. What'd you do?"

Bokuto shrugged. "The usual. Uh, played some volleyball, snowboarding…" _Met the coolest person ever and sang karaoke with him and then bought him hot chocolate with extra whipped cream._ "More volleyball."

Oikawa smiled at him. "When's the big game?"

"Two weeks!" Bokuto answered. He knew that one!

"Wow," Oikawa shook his head, then set a hand on Bokuto's shoulder. "You are so dedicated, Koutarou. Just like me!" Oikawa smiled, and Bokuto laughed awkwardly, pulling away. "I hope you come watch me in the musical! You promise to cheer for me?"

"Uh, sure?" Bokuto took a few steps back. He'd probably have volleyball, but that was a good excuse to skip, right? Not that he wanted to skip out on Oikawa. But he could be a bit...odd? Kuroo always called him a brown-noser and a sleaze, whatever that meant. 

Oikawa waved his fingers. "Toodles!"

Bokuto cocked his head. "Uh, toodles!" He turned and headed down the nearest hallway without even knowing if he was going in the right direction. He missed the way Oikawa's smile turned into a glare, directing the look down the hall Akaashi had gone. He missed the confused look Kuroo gave him in their next class together, and he missed the last question on his math test. Well, that one was probably a given.

What was important, however, was that Akaashi was in his school. Bokuto definitely wouldn't miss him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> personally i believe that kuroo would love show tunes but hey someone had to be chad

Three periods later, Bokuto couldn't stop thinking about it. Sure, volleyball was his thing. It had always been his thing, he was good at it. But singing...he'd never actually considered it before. Sure, he did it all the time in the shower, and in car rides with his family, and as a way to keep his younger cousins entertained at holidays, but he'd never done it seriously. Not, at least, until he had done karaoke with Akaashi. But he had had fun. It felt great to be up singing in front of everyone with Akaashi next to him. Would the musical be like that, too?

Bokuto barely grabbed the volleyball in time, and Kuroo followed it, snagging it back out of his hands easily. All at once, he was brought back to where he was at. Kuroo shot him a look. "What's up? You look like you've got something stuck in your shoe again."

Bokuto wiggled his toes to be sure, then shook his head. "No, nothing's in there." Kuroo nodded and hit the ball against the ground, and Bokuto took the chance to ask, "So, hey. You know the school musical thing? Is it true you get extra credit just for trying out?"

Kuroo looked up at him and snorted. "Who cares?"

Bokuto shrugged. "I dunno. It's always good to have extra credit, you know. For like...grades and stuff. You need grades to graduate."

Kuroo hit the ball to him, and Bokuto caught it after the bounce as his friend asked, "You think Misty May and Kerri Walsh ever tried out for their school musical?"

Bokuto shrugged, hitting it back to him. "I dunno, maybe!"

Kuroo snagged the ball midair, coming to stand next to him. "Bokuto. Bro. Listen. The music in those shows...it's not hip hop, it's not rock, it's nothing that's actually essential to culture. It's all just costumes and jazz hands, and, like, pounds of makeup. Like, don't get me wrong, ya boy can rock some eyeliner, but theater makeup…" Kuroo shivered. "It's frightening."

Bokuto nodded, staring down at the volleyball. With a sigh, he told him, "Yeah, yeah, I know. I just thought it'd be funny. And, I dunno, Oikawa's kinda cute?"

Kuroo gave him the strangest look yet today. "Yeah, and so is a mountain lion, but you don't go and pet it." Bokuto looked up at him, but Daichi's shout interrupted them.

"Alright, Wildcats! Pair up, let's get warm ups started!"

Kuroo bounced the ball back to him, and Bokuto tried to stop thinking about the musical for the rest of practice.

\- - -

Akaashi scribbled down the second half of the equation, eyeing the numbers on the paper. Something seemed a bit off, but he wasn't sure yet, so he continued to work through it. Besides, the teacher was working through it as well on the board, so if there was something wrong, she'd catch it.

"So!"

Akaashi jumped, nearly dropping his pencil. Annoyed, he glanced up and saw Oikawa leaning across the table, chin in his hand. Oikawa lifted an eyebrow. "You seemed like you were pretty well acquainted with our Koutarou Bokuto."

Akaashi frowned. "Not particularly. He was just showing me around."

Oikawa laughed quietly again in a way that didn't sound like he was actually amused. Instantly, he was on Akaashi's list of People He'd Like to Avoid. It was a long list, but with the tone of his voice, Oikawa was quickly climbing ranks. "Well, Bokuto doesn't usually interact with new students."

Akaashi glanced at the chalkboard, frowned, then looked down at his notebook. Oikawa was obviously waiting for some sort of response, and Akaashi figured he'd leave him alone faster if he just played along. "Why not?"

Oikawa was fiddling with something out of Akaashi's line of sight, and he said in an airy tone, "Oh, you know, it's pretty much volleyball 24/7 with him!"

Akaashi looked back up to the board. "That should be 16 over pi."

The teacher turned, and Akaashi blinked, embarrassed. Unfortunately, his voice carried quite a bit in the science classroom. Maybe Bokuto was a bad influence on him already. The teacher asked, "Is something wrong, Akaashi?"

Akaashi swallowed. "Sorry for interrupting. I just…" He paused, then asked, "Shouldn't the second part read 16 over pi?" Oikawa rolled his eyes, and the teacher smiled politely at him.

"16 over pi? I don't believe so." Still, they moved over to their calculator, punching the numbers in quickly. After a pause, she straightened up, giving Akaashi an impressed look. "I stand corrected." She winked before turning back to the board. "And welcome aboard."

Akaashi ducked his head, swallowing down the smile of pride. He heard Oikawa scoff and back away, and felt relieved. Two birds, one stone. One bird was definitely going to be easier to take down than the other.

\- - -

Oikawa left science class in a huff, chewing on his lip. As far as he was aware, in their entire school careers, Bokuto had never once approached and made friends with a new student. He was always glued to Kuroo's side, and as they entered high school, he was never seen without at least one of his volleyball goons surrounding him. What was it about this new kid that had Bokuto so interested?

"Oikawa."

He glanced up, spotting his step brother approaching him from across the hall. Ushijima pointed behind him, "Koutarou Bokuto was just looking at the sign up sheet."

Oikawa's eye twitched. "Again?! He was there this morning with that new guy and they were both looking at the list! How many times does he need to stare at a piece of paper? I was sure he could read. You know, there's something freaky about that Akaashi. Where did he say he was from?" Oikawa paused in his rant to notice Ushijima was no longer looking at him, instead staring idly at the list. He sighed, grabbing his step brother and pulling him behind him to the library.

He sat at the nearest computer while Ushijima hovered behind him. He knew it was a long shot, but there was no way someone could just correct a science teacher and not be famous for being a nerd. Quickly, he typed in Akaashi's name in the search bar and hit enter, scrolling past various ads for facebook pages. "Ah ha!"

Sure enough, a news article from a couple years back boasted about a three-time decathlon champion. "Well well, quite the Einstein, isn't he, Ushijima?"

Ushijima leaned down and quickly read the article. "So why would he be interested in the musical?"

"I'm not sure that it's the musical he's interested in," Oikawa hummed, lifting an eyebrow. He quickly hit the print button, looking to Ushijima. "Normally, we needn't concern ourselves with amateurs, but there's nothing wrong in making sure his 'welcome to school' activities are a little more...well, appropriate for him." He turned to smirk back at the screen, impressed with his own plans. "After all, he loves pi."

Ushijima blinked at him. "What kind?"

Oikawa frowned, looking back. "What?"

Ushijima stared at him. "What kind of pie does he like?"

Oikawa stared at him, then sighed, putting a hand to his face. "Just go get the paper from the printer, Ushijima!"

 

\- - -

 

"Gold! More gold!"

Akaashi winced as Nekomata's voice echoed around the small theater side room. He certainly didn't need lessons in how to carry his voice. Almost like thinking about him summoned the old man, Nekomata was suddenly leaning over Akaashi's shoulder.

"Paint! Paint, let's go! Hustle up!"

Akaashi thought he understood why Nekomata was referred to as Coach.

Nekomata moved away, and just as suddenly, someone else was by his side. This presence felt a lot less hostile, but it was no less surprising, and Akaashi jumped again, nearly getting the purple in the yellow area. Painting was not his strong point. Pursing his lips, he turned to look to see who had come to sit next to him.

Vaguely, he thought he recognized the boy from his homeroom, but couldn't think of a name other than the 'kid with the DS'. "Yes?"

"Kenma," he told him, like he had read his mind. His voice was quiet, much quieter than anything else in the room at the moment, and Akaashi had to strain to hear him. "And yes, you can join."

Akaashi blinked. "I'm sorry?"

Kenma cocked his head. "There's a scholastic decathlon competition next week, and you're more than welcome to take the open spot at our table."

Akaashi continued staring at him, confused. He remembered Nekomata referring to signups for something along those lines during homeroom, but he had no intention of joining, especially on the first day. His eyes drifted down to Kenma's hands, in which were clutched several newspaper articles that he recognized. "Where did you get those?"

Kenma watched him carefully. "My locker. Did you not put them there?"

Akaashi stared back. "It's my first day, how would I have even found your locker?"

He blinked. "Fair point." And this was the captain of the decathlon team? "Regardless, you're pretty impressive. We could really use someone like you on our team. We meet almost every day after school for about an hour, two right before the competition."

Akaashi sighed. While it was tempting… "I'm sorry, Kenma, but I don't think I'll be able to. I need to get caught up on the school's curriculum and find my way around before I can even think of joining any clubs." 

As if on cue, Oikawa slid around the edge of the structure Akaashi was painting, leaning casually on it with the same sly smirk he had worn nearly every time Akaashi had seen him so far. "What a perfect way to get caught up!" Kenma looked up with something close to annoyance, and Akaashi instantly liked Kenma more because of it. Either oblivious to Kenma's look or ignoring it, Oikawa continued, "Meeting with the smartest kids in school would be such a good way to see what all you've missed this year. What a _generous_ offer, Kozume!"

Kenma narrowed his eyes, but Nekomata's booming voice echoed around, interrupting all conversation. "So many new faces in detention today! I hope you all don't make a habit of it, but the drama club can always use an extra hand. Now, while you are working, let us probe into the subject of the mounting evils of cell phones…"

Behind him, Akaashi heard Bokuto and Kuroo groan in unison, and Oikawa rolled his eyes, moving away from them. To his delight, he noticed Oikawa had a fresh purple streak down the side of his shirt. He smirked, feeling a sense of victory. Kenma caught his eye, smirking as well. Listening to Nekomata drone on about the dangers of radioactive waste in the brains, Akaashi turned back to finish painting…whatever this was.

\- - -

"Alright, alright! Hustle up!"

Coach Ukai's voice echoed, pulling the team to center. "Huddle up! We got two weeks until the big game, and--" Ukai paused, looking around. He seemed to be missing two of the loudest members of his team. "Where's Bokuto and Kuroo?"

The team was silent around him, all of them looking away. Asahi, in particular, was wringing his hands together. Ukai narrowed his eyes. "One more time. Where are they?" Silence, yet again, reigned supreme. He sighed, then shouted, "Where's Bokuto and Kuroo? Laps!"

Daichi stepped forward quickly, halting Asahi, who had already moved towards the edge of the gym. "Sorry, Coach." Daichi looked disappointed. "They're in detention."

Ukai stared at him. "Excuse me?"

Daichi looked at the ground. "Detention, in the auditorium."

Ukai narrowed his eyes. "Damn cat…" Without another word, he stormed out of the gym, letting the door slam behind him. Nervously, Asahi glanced at Daichi. "Do we still have to run laps?"

\- - -

Kuroo grinned, poised up on a higher branch. About halfway through the lecture, Bokuto had fallen asleep, somehow not snoring even though his mouth was wide open. After attaching one of the prop leaves to some string he found, he dangled it above Bokuto's nose, trying to see if he could get him to smack himself in the face.

"Perhaps the most heinous example of cell phone abuse," Nekomata continued with passion, "Is ringing in the theater. What temerity! The theater is a temple of art. A precious cornucopia of creative energy. It--"

A door slamming interrupted him, and Bokuto jolted awake, nearly shaking the whole tree. Everyone turned to look as Coach Ukai came storming down the center of the aisle, hands out on either side of him.

"Where's my team, Nekomata?" Ukai glanced around the stage, gaze finally settling on a prop tree off to the left. Kuroo was laying on one of the branches, and Bokuto was inside the center trunk, blinking owlishly at him. Trying to ignore just how fitting they looked, he pointed angirly. "And what the hell are those two doing in a tree?"

Nekomata turned, sly smile on his face. "It's called crime and punishment, young Ukai. Besides, proximity to the arts is cleansing for the soul!"

Ukai grit his teeth to stop himself from telling Nekomata what exactly he could cleanse. "Can we talk, please?" he spit, then turned his glare on Bokuto and Kuroo. "And you two! To the gym, now!"

Kuroo nearly fell off the branch in his haste to go, him and Bokuto launching themselves off the stage to avoid Ukai in a tantrum. Ukai watched them go, then turned back to Nekomata. Enough was enough.

Apparently, the talk had to involve the principal, because everything Nekomata did had to be made into a federal fucking issue.

"All I'm saying is if they have to paint sets for detention, they could do it tonight, not during my practice!" Ukai shouted, and Nekomata glared at him.

"If these were theater performers instead of athletes, would you seek special treatment?"

Ukai groaned, turning to glare at him. "We are two weeks away from the biggest game of the year, you old cat!"

"And we, Ukai, are in the midst of our auditions for our winter musicale as well! This school is about more than just young men in short shorts flinging balls for touchdowns!"

Ukai's eye twitched. "You _know_ that's a completely different sport!!"

"Guys! Guys!" Principal Takeda held his hands up, stopping the two of them. "Listen, you've been having this argument since you both started teaching here. We are one school, one student body, _one_ faculty! Can we not agree on that?"

Ukai's gramace deepened, and Nekomata smirked. Takeda smiled pleasantly at both of them. "So, Coach, how's the team looking? Daichi got 'em whipped into shape?"

Nekomata threw his hands up with a shout, storming out of the room. Ukai let himself smile, then nodded to Takeda before turning and making his way back to the gym. He had to get his team to understand the importance of this game somehow. While he normally left the speeches to Kuroo--god that kid loved to talk--he felt like he could pull out something of his own.

"West High Knights have knocked us out of the playoffs three years running," Ukai began once he was back in the gym. His team hovered around them, a few of them bouncing on their toes in excitement. He smirked, continuing his pacing. "And now we are one game away from taking that championship right back from 'em! It's time to make our stand. The team is you. You are the team. And this team does not exist unless each and every one of you is fully focused on our goal. Am I clear?" The team shouted, and he shouted back, "What team?"

"Wildcats!"

Kuroo picked up the cheer quickly. "What team?"

"Wildcats!"

Kuroo and Daichi together, "What team?!"

"Wildcats!"

"Wildcats!"

The whole team echoed back, "Get your head in the game!"


	5. Chapter 5

To Akaashi's dismay, Kenma was a lot more persistent than he appeared. After detention, Kenma followed him out into the hallway, keeping pace as they made their way to the front of the school.

"We've never made it past the first round," Kenma informed him, eyes on the ground as they walked. Akaashi, while he decided he liked Kenma, was still unsure about the decathlon. It seemed Kenma was taking it upon himself to try and convince him. "After seeing those articles, you could be what we need to make it through."

Akaashi shook his head. "I was planning to focus on my schoolwork this semester, get used to the school, help my mother get the house organized. Perhaps I can join next year."

Kenma actually looked up, the tiniest of frown lines in between his eyebrows. "But--"

In order to stop him from pestering, Akaashi thought of the first topic he could that wouldn't danger their newly formed friendship. "What do you know about Bokuto?"

Kenma paused, blinking. Obviously he was aware of the change in subject, but didn't seem too bothered by it. "Koutarou Bokuto?" Akaashi nodded, and Kenma continued, looking thoughtful. "While I wouldn't say I'm an expert, Tetsu would say he's loud. Goofy, but nice."

"Tetsu?" Akaashi questioned, and Kenma scowled.

"Kuroo. The boy who sits behind him in our homeroom, with the dark hair." Akaashi thought back, trying to picture who all had been in their homeroom. There were quite a few boys in there with dark hair. Kenma, watching him, clarified, "The terrible bedhead."

Instantly, he could picture him. Akaashi smirked. "Ah, yes. Him. With the volleyball."

Kenma sighed. "Yes, he carries that thing around everywhere. Which is why I tend to avoid most of the players on the team, they're all like that."

Akaashi looked at him curiously. "Have you tried getting to know them?" Kenma looked up at him with a strange expression, and Akaashi immediately blushed. "I'm sorry if that was a personal question. Forgive me."

Kenma shook his head, blonde ends drifting around his chin. "It's fine. Just...wait until lunch tomorrow. Most of them are in there together, you'll see what I mean." He lifted an eyebrow. "Unless you'd rather sit with Oikawa and discuss what a generous person I am."

"Oh, god, no," Akaashi gasped, almost involuntarily. Kenma shot him another small smile, then waved when they parted ways at the parking lot. Akaashi watched him go, then turned to head back home. Two friends on his first day? Not bad, Keiji. Not bad at all.

\- - -

"I still don't understand this whole detention thing."

Bokuto landed hard on the ground, a little off balance. He frowned at the ball that went bouncing off to the side of their backyard court, watching the way it settled into the net. They had put that up after last year's incident that involved Kuroo almost getting banned from their backyard and absolutely getting banned from using their leaf blower. "It was my fault, Dad. Sorry."

"Straight, next," he ordered, then positioned himself to set for Bokuto again. "You know Nekomata has never been a fan of the volleyball team, especially since Ukai got the job after his grandpa. That means he'll go after any of Ukai's players, as well."

Bokuto slammed the ball down in an easy straight, bouncing on his toes. He paused, then turned to his dad. "Hey, can I ask you something? Have you ever thought about trying something new, but were afraid about what your friends would think?"

"What, you mean doing your straights in the game?" His dad snorted. "Nah, you've got those down, no worries there."

Bokuto grimaced, catching the ball instead of going up to hit it. Now his dad was listening. "I mean...what if you wanna try something really new, except it ends up a total disaster and all of your friends laugh at you."

"Well then, maybe they're not really your friends. And that was my point about you missing practice for detention earlier," he added, taking the ball back while Bokuto sighed. 

"That's not what I--"

"I completely agree with Ukai. You're a team, you need to be there for each other. And you're the ace! Aces don't miss practice because they got detention. There's going to be college scouts at the game next week, Koutarou. You know what a scholarship is worth these days?"

Bokuto nodded sadly. "Yeah, a lot."

"Exactly. Focus." His dad got ready to set again. "Alright, come on. Straight again."

Bokuto hit it easily, his dad's cheers turning to static in his ears as he watched the ball roll away again and wondered if Akaashi had enjoyed detention as much as he had.

\- - -

The next day at school, Bokuto barely made it into the class on time. He caught Akaashi's glance as the bell rang, offering a small wave. Akaashi, with a small smirk and a confused look, returned it. 

"Hello to you, too, Bokuto," Oikawa purred, stepping into Bokuto's line of sight. Bokuto quickly dropped the wave, awkwardly stepping out of the way.

"Oh, uh, hey, Oiks." Bokuto ducked his head and dodged him, shooting one more sheepish smile at Akaashi, who was still watching him with a smile. Oikawa continued on to Nekomata's desk, handing him a small box. 

"Just something nice for your lunch today." Oikawa smiled, then turned back to his seat as everyone else settled down. Nekomata stood, bringing Bokuto's attention back to the front of the room and away from Akaashi.

"Well, I expect we all learned our homeroom manners yesterday, correct? If not, I do have a few dressing rooms that need repainted."

Bokuto could barely suppress a glance back at Akaashi, but was happy to find out Akaashi was smiling back at him. He winked, and Bokuto grinned, spinning around in his seat to face forward again with a slight blush. He probably wouldn't mind spending a few hours in a dressing room with Akaashi.

"Now, morning announcements." Nekomata clapped, drawing the attention of the room. "This morning during free period will be your chance for the musicale auditions, both singles and pairs." Oikawa beamed, flipping his bangs not so casually off of his face. "I will be in the theater until noon for those of you bold enough to extend the wingspan of your creative spirit!"

Kuroo leaned forward behind him, snorting, "What time is he due back on the mothership?"

Bokuto smirked, but looked down at his desk. What was so wrong with trying something new?

In the hallway before free period, Kuroo caught up with him quickly. "Bo! Hey, hold up." Bokuto looked back waiting for him as he caught up to walk next to him. "Hey, the team's thinking about hitting the gym for some extra practice today during free period. What plays were you thinking about running?"

Bokuto paused. _Well, then I'd say they weren't really your friends._ It'd be so easy to tell Kuroo. Kuroo would get it, wouldn't he? After all, he'd almost done something instead of volleyball. He'd get it, right? Instead, Bokuto found himself lying.

"Ah, shit! I'm sorry, I can't." Bokuto put on a pout as he looked at Kuroo. "I gotta catch up on some homework or my mom's gonna kill me."

Kuroo laughed. "Are you serious? Dude, it's the second day back, how are you behind already?"

Bokuto shrugged, glancing sideways for an exit. "You know me, old forgetful Bokuto!" He forced a laugh, waving. "I'll catch ya later!" Quickly, he ducked into a classroom and exited the other side, making his way through the hallways. Obviously he knew Kuroo was following him. Kuroo always followed him when he lied. Mostly because Bokuto was a bad liar and Kuroo loved catching him in the act. What was one place Kuroo would hate?

Bokuto ducked into the science classroom, smiling at the reptile club. "Hey guys!"

Tsukishima glared up at him. "What are you doing here?"

Bokuto shrugged. "What, can't a guy just hang out and talk about some lizards?" On cue, he heard a devilish laugh behind him.

"Well well well, if it isn't Kuroo! Finally showing up at my club, huh?"

"Ah, fuck off, Daishou--"

Bokuto glanced over his shoulder. Seeing as Daishou would keep Kuroo hostage for most likely the next ten minutes, he was now in the clear. He turned and waved back to Tsukishima. "Bye!" With that, he darted out of the other side of the classroom, once again weaving in and out of students as he made his way to the auditorium. Ukai almost caught him coming around the corner of the band hallway, but he managed to duck behind a janitor's cart and used the mop to hide himself as he made his way inside.

The auditorium was nearly completely dark except for the stage and a small spotlight that was aiming at a desk up front. Bokuto ducked behind the mop as Nekomata took his position on stage, holding his hands up in front of everyone that had gathered here.

"This," Nekomata began in a dramatic voice, "This is where the true expression of the artist is realized. Where inner truth is revealed through the actor's journey--" A bell rang, and Nekomata cut off immediately. "Was that a cell phone?!"

Instantly, students began checking their bags in fear, and a small blonde girl on stage next to Nekomata leaned forward, whispering, "No, sir, Coach, sir. That was the warning bell." Bokuto narrowed his eyes. He didn't recognize her. But that wasn't very hard to believe. The freshmen got smaller every year.

"Ah." Nekomata cleared his throat, then looked back to everyone. "Well, those wishing to audition must understand that time is of the essence. We have many roles to cast and callbacks will be next week. First, you will sing a few bars and I will give you a sense of whether or not the theater is your calling. Better to hear it from me now than your friends later." Nekomata smirked, and Bokuto swallowed thickly. Nekomata gestured to the blonde girl next to him as he spoke. "Our composer, Hitoka Yachi, will accompany you and be available for rehearsals prior to callbacks." Yachi waved, and he glanced around the auditorium.

"Well. Shall we?"

Bokuto leaned more on the cart, eyes narrowed. The first two people weren't too bad, but obviously nervous. Nekomata dismissed them with a bored tone, then physically startled when the third person to tryout started with opera. The next two to come up did some sort of spoken poem interpretive dance, which Bokuto thought was kind of interesting, but obviously Nekomata hated it.

"I recommend seeking professional help. Next!"

"Bokuto?"

Bokuto jumped, hitting his head on the mop and spinning around. Akaashi stood a few feet away, a look of fond confusion on his face. "So you decided to sign up?"

Bokuto quickly shook his head. "No, no way." He eyed Akaashi, still rubbing the back of his head. "What about you?"

Akaashi shook his head as well, coming to stand a bit closer. "No, I did not. Why are you behind a mop?" He took one look at Bokuto's face and then nodded. "Ah. Your friends don't know you're here. Correct?"

Bokuto nodded sheepishly. "Yeah."

Up on stage, the next auditioner had completely frozen. Nekomata waited approximately six seconds before waving him off. "Thank you, goodbye. Next!"

Bokuto winced. "Uh, Coach Nekomata can be a bit...harsh."

Akaashi lifted an eyebrow. "Don't tell me the Wildcat's ace is afraid?"

"No!" Bokuto ducked down, lowering his voice. "I'm not afraid! I'm just...I...scared."

"You scared?" Akaashi smiled, then nodded, looking back forward. "I scared too, usually." Bokuto stared at him, then Nekomata drew his attention back to the front. 

"And, for the lead roles of Mickey and Arnold, we only have one couple signed up." Bokuto and Akaashi instantly ducked lower as Nekomata gestured. "Oikawa and Ushijima. I think it might be useful for you to get up here and give us all a sense of why we gather in this hallowed hall."

From the back, Bokuto could see as Oikawa yanked Ushijima backwards so that he could walk up the stairs to the stage first. Akaashi nudged him, then pointed to the back row of seats, and Bokuto followed him, both of them sitting down low so they wouldn't be seen.

Yachi approached Oikawa on stage, hands clenched tightly in front of her. "Um, excuse me! What key?"

Oikawa looked down his nose at her. "Key? Sweetheart, we had our rehearsal pianist do an arrangement." He turned and snapped his fingers, and the curtain began to close. Yachi slumped. 

"Oh."

Behind the closed curtain, Oikawa shot Ushijima a look. "Let's show them, shall we?"

From where Bokuto was sitting, the song looked like a trainwreck. An impressive trainwreck, but still a trainwreck. There were flashy dance movements, wild note holding, scary high notes from Ushijima that he didn't even know that guy could produce, and overall, it was incredibly unsettling. Even Akaashi's impassive face had been forced into something that looked like he had smelled something awful.

Yachi, almost a second too late, started the applause, and everyone else echoed it. Nekomata stood, clapping the loudest and longest. After it died down, he spun around, making Bokuto and Akaashi duck so fast that Bokuto hit his head on an armrest.

"Well? Any last minute signups?" 

Ushijima called from the stage, "The drama club needs more than singers. We need extras as well who will stand in the background as we perform." Akaashi had to suppress a snort, but even worse was what echoed back from Oikawa's conversation.

Yachi was obviously trying to talk to Oikawa about the song. "Well, it's just, if you do it, I imagined it much slower--"

 _"If_ we do it?" Bokuto could hear Oikawa's disgusted tone from here. "Yachi, my tiny, wannabe Lloyd-Weber, I've been in 17 school productions. How many of your compositions have been selected?"

Yachi hesitated, but answered, "This would be the first."

"Which tells us what?"

"That I should write you more solos?"

"Absolutely not," Oikawa continued in the same condescending tone. "It tells us that you do not offer direction, suggestion, or commentary. And you should be thankful that Ushijima and I are here to lift your music out of it's current obscurity. Are we clear?"

"Yes, sir!" Yachi's voice shook. "I mean, yes, Oikawa."

"Good." His tone dropped easily into the honeyed one. "Nice talking to you."

Bokuto saw the scowl that split Akaashi's face a second too late. Nekomata shouted, "Any last minuters? No? Good, done."

People began clearing out, Oikawa's snide voice echoing back as he and his brother and what sounded like everyone else exited out of the doors towards the front. Bokuto heard the spotlight click off, and then Akaashi stood up. 

"I'd like to audition, Coach Nekomata."

Bokuto hit his chin on the chair.

Coach Nekomata turned to see who had spoken, then shrugged in apology. "Timeliness means something in the world of theater, my good sir. The individual auditions are long, long over, and there are simply no more pairs."

Bokuto took a deep breath. One to calm himself, one to line himself up for the shot. Just like volleyball. 

He stuck his hand in the air. "I'll sing with him." He stood slowly, too afraid to look at Akaashi directly. "I'll sing."

Nekomata's eyebrows rose up his old, wrinkled face. "Is that Bokuto? Where is your sports posse or whatever it's called?"

"My team," Bokuto answered lamely, and added, "I'm here alone. I mean, not alone. I'm with him." He pointed to Akaashi. "I came to sing with him."

"Yes, well." Nekomata didn't look bothered in the least. "We take these shows very seriously here at East High. I called for the pairs auditions, and you did not respond. Free period is over." He turned to gather his things, and Bokuto stomped his foot.

"But he has an amazing voice!"

Akaashi ducked his chin a bit, but Nekomata turned back, papers in his hands. "Perhaps the next musicale." He made his way out the door with the rest of the stragglers. Bokuto watched him go, following him halfway down the aisle before stopping. Here he was, finally with the courage to do something, and it had been stopped before it ever started.

He heard a squeak from up on stage, and turned to look as Yachi tripped, papers flying out of her hands. Without waiting, he jumped up on stage, hurrying to help her gather them. He heard footsteps follow and saw Akaashi crouch down a second later, helping Yachi stand before he, too, was gathering papers.

"Sorry, I'm such a clutz," Yachi was babbling, face bright red. "Sorry, sorry--"

"You're a composer?" Bokuto interrupted, and when she blinked at him, held up the papers he was collecting. "You wrote the song that everyone was singing? And the entire show?" Yachi nodded weakly, and Bokuto beamed at her. "That's so cool!" He finished his piles, then stood, offering a hand to Yachi. "I can't wait to hear the rest of the show!"

Yachi looked terrified, but accepted his hand, taking the papers back from Bokuto and Akaashi and placing them on top of the piano. Because he was curious, Bokuto pressed, "So, uh, why are you so afraid of Oikawa and Ushijima? I mean, it's your show, isn't it?"

"It is?" Yachi squeaked, and Bokuto nodded easily.

"Well, yeah. Isn't the composer kind of like the setter in volleyball?"

Yachi frowned. "Setter?"

"The setter!" Bokuto nodded, bolstered by the small smile Akaashi was giving him. "You know, the one who makes everyone else look cool. Without the setter, I couldn't do any of my cool hits or score nearly as many points. You're the setter here, Yachi."

Slowly, Yachi's scared expression was turning into a smile. "I am?"

"You are!" Bokuto reassured her, and when she looked at him, Akaashi nodded as well. Yachi hesitated, then pointed to her piano.

"Do you want to hear how the song is actually supposed to sound? The duet?" They nodded, and Yachi led them over there, sitting on the bench and spreading her fingers out. "I mean, it's one of my favorites, and it's supposed to be much slower, and sweeter, and--well, you'll see." She smiled, blushing still, and began playing. 

Yachi was right. The song was so much better slower. It had a sweet, simple melody, a quieter meaning than the one that Oikawa had tried to give it. Bokuto glanced at the sheet music and saw some words. After toying around with the idea, he tried singing along to what she was playing.

_"It's hard to believe that I couldn't see, that you were always right beside me."_

Yachi looked up in surprise, but didn't stop playing. Bokuto nodded to either side. Sure, he could see where Oikawa fit in his jazz hands, but this was much better.

_"Thought I was alone, with no one to hold…"_

Bokuto glanced up at Akaashi in surprise, instantly feeling warmer by the sound of his voice. It was just as soft as the karaoke song, but even better than he remembered. 

_"But you were always right beside me."_

With a shared smile, Bokuto and Akaashi continued the song, singing all the way until Yachi stopped playing. She looked up at both of them, awe on her face.

"Wow, you guys--"

"Callbacks!"

Everyone spun, Bokuto almost knocking the papers over again. Coach Nekomata stood at the top of the auditorium, a conspiratorial smile on his face. "Bokuto, Akaashi, you have a callback. Yachi, give them the duet from the second act. Work on it with them. Callbacks will be held next week. Good day."

As he left, Yachi whipped around, smile lighting up her entire face. "All right! If you guys wanna rehearse, I'm usually here during free period and sometimes even during biology class and after school and even before school if you want! You can come and rehearse whenever." Bokuto looked at Akaashi, disbelief on his face, but it died when it saw Akaashi's soft smile. Yachi continued babbling, "We can literally do it whenever. You could even come over to my house for breakfast! I have a piano there, we can rehearse in my room or the living room or even with the weird keyboard in the English room. After volleyball, before volleyball, whatever…"

While Bokuto was elated at what had happened, and incredibly surprised that he had gotten a callback, and even more excited about the fact that he got to sing with Akaashi again-- _his Akaashi!!!_ \--he couldn't help but worry.

What exactly had he gotten himself into?


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> every word out of ushijima's mouth is absolute gold

"Callback?!"

The shriek echoed around the hallways, stopping people in their tracks. In front of the board, Oikawa began fanning himself. "A callback?! Are they serious? Is this happening? This _cannot_ be happening."

Ushijima leaned around him to read the board. "Callback for the roles of Mickey and Arnold will be held next Thursday at 3:30 pm. Callbacks for Oikawa and Ushijima, Bokuto and Akaashi." He sat back. "Hmm."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Oikawa couldn't take his eyes off of the board. "Is this some kind of a joke? They didn't even audition!"

Ushijima lifted an eyebrow. "Maybe we're being punked."

That got his attention. He looked at his step brother, baffled. "What?"

Ushijima looked down at him. "Punked. Tendou told me about it. They play practical jokes and film you for tv." He glanced around. "If we are in fact being punked, then Ashton should be somewhere around--"

"Oh, shut _up,_ Ushijima!" Oikawa's shriek caught the attention of the passerby, one of them being a few members of the volleyball team. Iwaizumi glared at him.

"The hell are you yelling about?"

Oikawa could barely speak through his rage, and instead pointed at the board. Confused, Iwaizumi and Kuroo leaned over to look, and both of them froze.

"What."

Kuroo looked at Oikawa. "This is a joke, right?"

Oikawa narrowed his eyes and leaned in. "Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you!" Without waiting, he grabbed Ushijima and pulled him off in the direction of the cafeteria, hurrying to lunch. "This is ridiculous!"

Ushijima stared at him. "Lunch?"

"The _callbacks!"_ Oikawa let go when they reached their usual table, beginning to pace back and forth. "How dare that new kid sign up! I've already picked out the colors for my dressing room! The stage lights are set perfectly for my complexion!"

Ushijima set his backpack down. "Did they sign up for the drama club?"

Oikawa ignored him, crossing his arms. "Someone's got to tell them the rules."

Ushijima nodded. "That's fair." He paused. "The rules for drama club? Are there rules?"

Oikawa sighed heavily. "You are useless."

Just then, Kuroo and Iwaizumi had made their way to the table where they sat with the other team members who had lunch this period. Kuroo was scowling, staring hard at his hands. Iwaizumi was chewing on his lip, looking around the cafeteria. After a second, he leaned over, looking at Daichi. "Yo. Can I tell you something?"

Daichi nodded. "Of course, what's up?" Kuroo looked up at the seriousness of their tones, and watched as Iwaizumi waited another second before nodding.

"Alright, I've been nervous about telling you guys, but." He sighed, then continued, "But if Bokuto can finally talk about what he does outside of volleyball, so can I." The whole table was watching him now, concerned. Iwaizumi reached into his backpack and pulled out a bag of homemade cookies, setting them on the table.

Daichi looked from the cookies back to Iwaizumi. "You...have a secret admirer who is giving you baked goods?"

"What? No." Iwaizumi scowled, gesturing angrily. "I bake."

"You bake?" Kuroo clarified, and Iwaizumi turned his frown on him.

"Did I stutter?" He sighed, looking to the rest of the team. "I dunno, it clears my head. Helps me work out some anger. I got a creme brulee recipe that really helped me the other night when I was--"

"Oh my GOD!" Kuroo put his head in his hands. "Kill me. Someone please kill me." Daichi patted his shoulder comfortingly, looking around at the rest of the students in the cafeteria.

Everyone was buzzing, a few people running from table to table. This is what the school got like when a new rumor appeared. Variations were already spreading, saying that Bokuto had actually been off training and that Akaashi was a Russian transfer student sent to take over the theater department. Akaashi's favorite that he heard so far was actually that he was Nekomata's long lost nephew, returned from a Broadway Academy.

He was having such a difficult time navigating between the numerous students milling about that he missed the spilled milk in front of him. Thankfully, he caught himself, but his lunch went flying through the air. A shriek rang out, causing the cafeteria to go deathly silent. Akaashi looked up in horror to see Oikawa standing in front of him, covered in spaghetti sauce.

Well, that was two sweaters of his he'd ruined already.

"You!" Oikawa shrieked, and Akaashi held up his now empty hands.

"Oikawa, I'm so sorry--"

"You!" he sputtered, practically shaking. Akaashi reached to pull a noodle off of his face, but was stopped suddenly by Kenma, who had once again appeared out of nowhere. Kenma shook his head quickly, instead dragging Akaashi out of the line of fire.

Bokuto paused in the doorway of the cafeteria, eyes wide. He took a few steps forward to help Oikawa, but Kuroo pulled him back. "Nah, you do _not_ want to get into the middle of that. Too much drama."

Bokuto took one look at Oikawa's shaking figure and nodded. "Yeah."

Nekomata came over from the teacher's table, concerned. "What's going on here?"

Oikawa let out another wordless shriek. "Look at this!" He pointed at his shirt, then wildly all over the cafeteria. "It was that Akaashi! He dumped his lunch on me on purpose! It's all a part of their plan to take over the musical! And Bokuto and his stupid volleyball gorillas are obviously behind it. Why do you think he auditioned?" There were tears in his eyes that not even Ushijima was sure were fake or not.

"After all the hard work you've put into this show, it just doesn't seem right."

Bokuto stared dumbly, and Kuroo pulled him back towards their table in the corner of the room. Bokuto looked at him, eyes wide. "Dude, what is happening?"

Kuroo lifted his eyebrows. "What's happening? Oh, let's see." Kuroo started to sarcastically count off on his fingers. "First, you missed free period workout yesterday to try out for some heinous musical. Second, your new friend is throwing spaghetti, and third, people are--they're--" He threw his hands up. "They're confessing! Look at this shit."

Iwaizumi, who had unfortunately been walking by, was grabbed by Kuroo and pulled over. "Yeah, and Iwaizumi? He's baking. Creme brulee."

Bokuto looked at the other wing spiker. "What's that?"

Iwaizumi shrugged one shoulder. "It's this custard-like filling with a caramelized surface, usually finished off by using a blow torch. It's pretty good--"

"Shut _up,_ Iwaizumi!" Kuroo shouted, shoving him away. Iwaizumi shrugged again, turning instead to talk to a couple of the skaters that had been walking by. "Look, do you see what's happening? Our team is coming apart because of you doing this musical! Even the skater punks and brainiacs suddenly think they can try out next year!"

Tanaka waved at Bokuto, who had been looking at him. "Sup!"

Kuroo grabbed Bokuto's chin and pulled him back to look at him. "People suddenly think they can just...do things! We have volleyball, Bokuto! You can't do both! If some random middle blocker like me can't do two, what makes you think our fucking ace is allowed to be part of something else?" 

Both of them froze, Kuroo's eyes widening as he realized what he said. Taking a quick breath, he rushed out, "We've got playoffs next week. Make your choice." With a dark look, Kuroo walked out, leaving Bokuto to watch after him.

He felt like he was trying to put together one of Daichi's grandma's puzzles, but he didn't have all the pieces just yet.

\- - -

Nekomata mentally steeled himself, then pushed the door of the locker room open. He'd never been a big fan of the smell of the locker room. Even when he wanted the job, he never would have had his coaching office inside this toxic place. A couple of the boys who were changing shouted, and one whistled, and Nekomata barely suppressed a sigh before turning into his office.

"Alright, Ukai."

Coach Ukai looked up, toothpick clenched between his teeth. "Huh?"

Nekomata stopped in front of his desk, hands on his hips. "Cards on the table, right now." Ukai blinked at him, and Nekomata steamrolled ahead. "You're pissed off because I put your stars in detention and now you're getting even."

Ukai set the newspaper he was reading down. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your all-star showed up at my audition! Now, I give every student an even chance, which is a long and honorable tradition in the theater, something you wouldn't understand. But, I tell you, if he is planning some sort of practical joke in my chapel of the arts--"

Ukai frowned at him, on the verge of laughter. "Bokuto doesn't sing."

Nekomata raised his eyebrows. "Well, you are very wrong about that. He sings quite well. But even so! I will not allow my Twinkle Town musicale to be made into farce!"

A smile slowly spread across his face. "Twinkle Town?"

"See?!" Nekomata pointed at him. "See! I knew it!" Ukai held his hands up, barely suppressing a laugh, and Nekomata turned, raising his hand as he left. "I knew it! I knew it!"

Ukai picked his newspaper back up, calling after him, "Sounds like a real winner. Good luck on Broadway!" Only a disapproving yell echoed back to him, and with another chuckle, he settled back behind his desk.

\- - -

Akaashi watched as Kenma picked more of the spaghetti off of his shoe. He had insisted he could do it himself, but Kenma took upon the task of wiping it off in the school bathroom. Thankfully, most of the sauce had ended up on Oikawa and not himself, but he still felt terrible. It had been an accident, totally and completely, but he wasn't sure if Oikawa had seen it that way. "Is Oikawa actually mad at me?" 

Kenma sighed. Granted, that had been the third time Akaashi had asked, but one could never be too sure. "I said I was sorry."

Kenma studied the shoe once more, then with a final wipe, handed it back to Akaashi. "It's not the spaghetti, but that definitely doesn't help. I know I told you I don't branch out much, but even I know that no one's beaten out Oikawa for a lead role since kindergarten."

Akaashi winced. "I wasn't trying to beat him out. Honestly, it wasn't even an audition. We stayed behind to help a freshman and just ended up singing."

Kenma lifted an eyebrow, hands back in his pockets. "Good luck trying to convince Oikawa that." Akaashi must have given him another hopeful glance, because Kenma elaborated, "I'm telling you, if he could play both Romeo and Juliet, he would. He'd be the phantom and Christine. Do you understand?"

"I told you, it just happened," Akaashi grumbled, finishing tying his shoe. He set both his feet back on the ground, leaning on the wall. "But...I liked it."

Kenma's tone was cautious. "Throwing spaghetti on Oikawa…?"

"No," Akaashi snorted. "Although that was pretty enjoyable, now that I think about it." Kenma let out a little huff of air that Akaashi counted as a laugh, so he continued. "No, I meant the singing. It was...it was nice. Do you ever feel like there's this...entire other person inside of you just looking for a way to come out?" He glanced up at Kenma, worried he had once again pushed the boundaries of a new friendship.

Instead, Kenma was watching him thoughtfully. After a moment, he admitted, "Not me personally, but I think I can understand." Akaashi felt something inside shake, but the bell rang, startling them both out of the quiet conversation. Kenma nodded, and they both moved out of the bathroom, headed towards their separate afternoon classes.

\- - -

Oikawa slammed open his locker, still seething. He'd been able to get most of the sauce off his glasses and face with the towels Ushijima had given him, but his shirt was a disaster. No way would he ever be able to wear it again. Thank god he kept spares in his locker.

He held up a purple one to his face. Keiji Akaashi was going to pay.

"Hey, Oikawa."

Oikawa frowned, looking away from the mirror inside his locker. He was surprised to find Iwaizumi standing there, the usual gruff look on his face as he frowned at Oikawa. "Can I help you?"

Iwaizumi's frown deepened, which Oikawa ticked as a point in his favor. Iwaizumi was always so easy to rile up. "I just wanted to ask you, since Bokuto's going to be in your show--"

Oikawa held up a single finger, stopping him. "Alright, first of all, Bokuto is not going to be in my show."

Iwaizumi squinted a bit. "...Right. Anyways, I was wondering, would you want to study together sometime?"

Oikawa continued to rifle through his other shirts, ignoring the tight feeling in his chest as Iwaizumi kept talking. "I know you didn't do so well on the last English test and I figured if you wanted to come over, I could bake us something. Study snacks. I've been working on this new recipe--"

"I would rather stick pins in my eyes."

Iwaizumi paused. "Excuse me?" Oikawa ignored him, and Iwaizumi stared. "I offer to help you, and you tell me you'd rather stick pins in your eyes? The hell kind of refusal is--"

Oikawa mustered up the iciest look he could in his mirror before turning to Iwaizumi. "Go back to your burrow, hedgehog head!"

Iwaizumi blinked at him. Oikawa kept the scowl on his face, hoping that would cover up how pink his cheeks had gone. After about five seconds of silence, Iwaizumi shrugged casually. "Suit yourself."

Now it was Oikawa's turn to pause. Merely his glares had been enough to reduce people to tears before, and here he was, the infuriating Iwaizumi, who wasn't even bothered by a scathing remark?!

Iwaizumi looked past him, down the hall. "You're missing out on good food." He lifted a hand in a wave, already calling out to someone else down the hall. "Oi, Makki! You ever had creme brulee before?"

"The fuck did you just call me?"

Oikawa watched him go, face completely red. He was sure this was all because of the musical. Bokuto and Akaashi had ruined everything by trying out.

The two of them would pay for this, of that, Oikawa was sure.

\- - -

Akaashi continued the walk to his locker with his head down. Since lunch, it felt like nearly the whole school had been staring at him, which was just doing wonders for his stomach. He was sure if it hadn't been empty, then he'd have seen its entire contents by now. He tried to ignore just how many people were looking at him, but the whispers followed as well, and those were harder to ignore. Sure, it had been funny and easy to play off Oikawa's anger earlier, but after the spaghetti…

Yeah, this was bad.

He opened his locker quickly, trying to get his stuff so he could get to his last study hall of the day as quickly as possible. However, upon opening it, a piece of paper fluttered down to land on top of his locker shelf. Confused, he picked it up, unfolding the paper to read the note.

It wasn't signed, but, honestly? There was only one person whose handwriting could be that messy and use that many smiley faces in two sentences.

Following the directions on the note, he told his study hall teacher he was going for science tutoring, then actually headed for the science wing. However, instead of turning into a classroom, he ducked into the janitor's closet. Curious, he followed the staircase up and around, pushing open a door that led him outside on top of the school's roof. 

Plants surrounded him on all sides. Some were under tarps, some were open to the air and sunshine, others were wrapped individually in plastic, but all looked like they were thriving. He thought this was the greenest area he'd seen since moving to New Mexico. And there, in between one weirdly spiky plant and a tree, stood just who he was hoping would be here.

"It's like a jungle up here!" he called over, making Bokuto start and almost knock something off the railing. He laughed, waving Akaashi over.

"Jungle, right. Like the cafeteria, huh?"

Akaashi lifted an eyebrow as he joined Bokuto on the bench. "You mean the room where I just humiliated myself into the next century?"

Bokuto's face crumbled. "No! Come on, it wasn't that bad!" Akaashi stared at him, and Bokuto looked away, scratching at his nose. "Okay, so maybe it was kinda embarrassing. I've done worse in there, though."

Akaashi smirked. "I don't doubt it." Bokuto looked like he wasn't sure if he should smile about that or not, so Akaashi gestured around them. "So, is this your secret hideout?"

Bokuto nodded eagerly, looking around as well. "Yeah! All thanks to the science club. Kuroo showed me it our freshman year."

"Kuroo?" Akaashi questioned. "Homeroom and volleyball player Kuroo?"

Bokuto smiled at him. "Hey, you're learning pretty quick!"

Akaashi ignored the compliment. "How would Kuroo know about a science club project?"

Bokuto shrugged, looking around again. "I think he was thinking about doing it freshman year but decided not to. Then we joined the volleyball team, and that was that!" He shrugged a second time. "It's just nice up here. Quiet."

Akaashi watched him for a moment, once again shocked by how still he could be. He hadn't known him for very long, but Bokuto didn't seem the type to sit still very often. Thinking back to pushing his boundaries, he decided not to ask about that, and instead changed the subject. "Seems like everyone around here wants to be your friend."

Bokuto snorted. "Yeah, if we keep winning."

Akaashi cocked his head. "Must be difficult being the MVP."

"Ace, yeah," Bokuto corrected, once again shrugging. "It makes me wanna practice harder, I guess. Gotta set an example." He sighed. "I don't know what I'm gonna do when Coach finds out about the singing."

Akaashi's eyebrows pushed together. "Are you that worried?"

For a second, Bokuto was quiet. When he answered, it wasn't quite what Akaashi was expecting. "My parent's friends, whenever they come over, they always talk about my volleyball. They always say, 'Your son's the ace! He's the volleyball guy! You must be so proud.'" Bokuto swallowed. "Kinda makes me wonder if they'd still be as proud if I was just a guy."

Akaashi looked away, down to his feet. He hadn't been expecting something quite so deep. And while that whole statement was loaded with expectations and pressure and self-consciousness, there was only one part Akaashi was really worried about right now.

"I saw the way you were with Yachi, yesterday. At tryouts. Do your friends know about that guy?"

Bokuto shrugged. "Nah. I mean, they know I'm goofy, and nice, I guess. But to them, I'm just the ace."

"Then they don't know enough about you, Bokuto." He looked over at him, and Akaashi was even surprised about the surety in his voice. "At my other schools, I was the freak math genius. It followed me everywhere, to every school I went to. You don't understand how big of a relief it was to come here and be literally anything I wanted to be. When I was singing with you, on that stage, I felt like just a guy."

Bokuto's brow furrowed. "You are a guy. I mean, aren't you?"

Akaashi held back a sigh. He decided to keep the metaphor simple. "Do you remember in kindergarten, when you would meet another kid and know nothing about them, and then ten seconds later you're playing like you're best friends because you didn't have to be anything but yourself?" Bokuto nodded seriously, and Akaashi swallowed. Those golden eyes were much more intense when they were focused on him like that. "That's what singing with you felt like."

Bokuto kept staring at him, and Akaashi was worried he had lost him somewhere along the way. Was it too lengthy? Maybe he should keep it shorter next time.

"You know…" Bokuto's voice was quiet, still staring directly into Akaashi's eyes. "I never even thought about singing in public before. Ever. Not until I did it with you."

Something lit up deep inside Akaashi's chest, something warm and unfurling slowly so that it caressed every single one of his ribs. "So...do you want to do the callbacks?"

Bokuto's face split with a lopsided grin. "Just call me the freak callback boy!" Akaashi narrowed his eyes, but Bokuto was laughing, loud and long, and Akaashi felt himself smile in response to the sound. His laughter was one of the brightest noises he'd ever heard, even better than the wind chimes dotting the roof.

Bokuto stood, looking around. "You should probably get back to study hall, I don't want you getting another detention if we have to start rehearsing." He moved to start back towards the stairs, but Akaashi grabbed him by the shoulder, stopping him.

"Bokuto."

Bokuto looked back, unbothered. "Yeah?"

Akaashi swallowed. "You're...you really are an incredible person. And not just for the reasons your friends think." Bokuto cocked his head in confusion, and Akaashi added quickly, "And thank you for showing me your secret hideout. Like kindergarten."

Once more, the smile spread across Bokuto's face. Slowly, he grabbed Akaashi's hand, lacing their fingers together. His hand was calloused, but warm, and a perfect fit with Akaashi's. "Of course!" he told him, chest puffing out in pride. "Only the best secret hideouts for my new best friend." With another quick grin, Bokuto pulled him along by his hand, and Akaashi found a name for the thing in his chest.

It felt a lot like hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think makki's line is my favorite in this chapter
> 
> anyways i'm on tumblr at asahiwasabi if you wanna come fight me


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> someone asked me if there was gonna be any plot twists and i said "have you seen high school musical"

Rehearsals for the callbacks soon began to take over Akaashi's life. He was humming the lyrics to himself in between classes, singing in the mirror at home, locking himself into the practice room with Yachi whenever he could.

Bokuto seemed to be doing the same. In between basketball classes and the two other detentions he had received from Nekomata, Bokuto was ending up in odd places in the school and at Yachi's house at odd times. He took her up on her breakfast offer a couple times, and the three of them would practice in the actual auditorium whenever they knew Oikawa had already gone home for the day. 

Oikawa had actually almost caught Akaashi singing in the Spanish hallway, but thanks to some quick thinking, Oikawa hadn't thought to look behind the vending machine. Bokuto swore that Ushijima almost knocked down a door trying to find him in the locker rooms, but Akaashi doubted that actually happened. According to Yachi, they were making great progress, and she swore that they'd get the parts, easy. 

Everything was going smoothly. Too smoothly, and Akaashi couldn't help but feel like something was about to go terribly wrong.

\- - -

"Hustle up, let's go!"

Ukai prowled around the gym, watching his players. "Follow through! Watch your wrist, Asahi, it's directing the hit! Keep it up!" He narrowed his eyes, counting his players. Someone was missing.

Ukai snagged the ball from Daichi, looking at him carefully. "Have you seen Bokuto?"

Daichi shook his head sadly. "No, Coach, sorry."

Ukai scowled, then handed the ball back. He blew the whistle, following it up with, "Let's go! Butterfly drill, hustle up!"

Practice went as smooth as ever, much to Kuroo's annoyance. Finally, at the end, Ukai dismissed everyone to the showers. As the team was leaving, the doors across the way burst in, revealing Bokuto, sprinting into practice and still pulling on his shirt. He skidded to a stop, breathing heavily and looking at his feet. Ukai looked away.

Bokuto cleared his throat nervously. "I, uh, I think I'm gonna stay a while. Work on some serves."

Ukai snorted, shoving a volleyball into his stomach. "Well, since you missed practice, I think your team deserves a little effort from you today." Bokuto looked to the ground as Ukai moved off, shoulders drooping. Ukai had just made it to the doors of the locker room when he heard the other set open. Confused, he looked back and saw someone else entering the gym.

Their voice carried easily in the empty room. "Ah, so this is your actual stage."

Instantly, Bokuto's entire posture changed. Ukai watched as he spun around, looking to the other boy that had come in. "Akaashi! Hey! I mean, it's not really a stage? Just a kind of smelly gym." He grinned, bouncing the ball to Akaashi. He rolled the ball in his hands a couple times, and ignoring the rest of the team starting to mill about behind him, Ukai settled onto one leg to watch.

Akaashi served the ball awkwardly, but it made it over, landing inside the ten foot line. Bokuto's excited shout echoed in the ceilings. "Whoa, 'Kaash! Don't tell me you can play volleyball, too!"

Akaashi picked up another volleyball. "Actually, at my other school, I once scored 16 points."

Bokuto's mouth dropped open. "All by yourself?"

Akaashi nodded seriously. "Yes. And in the same day, I also invented the space shuttle and microwave popcorn."

Bokuto stared at him, then squinted. Finally, he laughed. "Oh! Ha, good one. You almost had me, but the popcorn gave you away."

"The popcorn? Really?"

"You think I don't know that Orville invented popcorn?"

Akaashi shook his head with a smile. "So, hey. I've been rehearsing with Yachi."

Bokuto nodded in agreement, stealing the ball from Akaashi's hands. Neither of them had noticed that Ukai--and now half the team--were still just outside the other set of doors. "Yeah, me too. Which, by the way, I missed practice today. So if I get kicked off the team, it's totally your fault."

"My fault?" Akaashi lifted an eyebrow. "Bokuto, you chose to do this musical, and if anything, I've always been supportive of you--"

"'Kaashi! Kaash." Bokuto took a few steps forward into Akaashi's space, smiling softly down at him. "Chill. It's fine." Akaashi stared up at him, then took the ball back from Bokuto. Bokuto reached for it, but Akaashi pulled back again, and that was when Ukai decided that he had had enough. He swiped a hand for Kuroo to stay behind, pushing back through the doorway and across the gym floor. The two boys ignored him, and Ukai scowled further.

"Excuse me, sir!" Ukai shouted, and the boys jumped away from each other. "Sorry, but this is a closed practice."

Bokuto made one last swipe at the ball, then looked at Ukai. "Coach, practice is over."

"Not until the last player leaves the gym." Ukai stopped ten feet away, hands on his hips as he watched both of them. If his suspicions were correct, this boy was the reason his ace had been performing less spectacularly than usual. "Team rule."

The other boy ducked his head. "I'm sorry, sir. I wasn't aware."

Bokuto cleared his throat, gesturing. "This is Akaashi. Akaashi, this is Coach Ukai."

 _Ding ding ding, we have a winner._ Ukai lifted an eyebrow. "Ah, so this is your detention buddy." Akaashi stiffened at the words, and Bokuto frowned in confusion. Maybe Ukai was letting a little more of his annoyance leak into his tone, but could you blame him? He had one of the biggest games of his fresh career less than a week away, and one of his players--one of the ones he had come close to considering like family, no less--was skipping practices, and when he was here, his head wasn't. He felt like he had every right to be annoyed.

Akaashi's posture turned stiff, and slowly, he glanced from Bokuto to Ukai. "I'll...I'll see you later, Bokuto. Nice meeting you, Coach Ukai." With one more nod, he turned and walked towards the exit. Ukai watched him go, less than impressed.

"Yeah, you too, kid."

The two of them waited until the door had closed before Bokuto finally spoke.

"Coach, I told you, detention was my fault, not his."

Ukai shook his head. "You haven't missed a practice in three years. Suddenly, this boy shows up--"

"That boy is named Akaashi!" Ukai blinked at being interrupted, and Bokuto screwed up his face as he added, "And he is very nice."

Ukai frowned. "Well, helping you miss practice doesn't make him very nice! Not in my book, or your team's, or the school's."

Bokuto didn't relent. "Coach, he's not the problem! He's just a guy--"

"But _you're_ not just some guy, Bokuto!" Ukai clenched his fists to his sides, struggling to keep his voice level. "You've never been just some guy. Daichi aside, the other guys on the team look to you as a leader. Whatever you do affects not only this team, but the whole school. Thanks to everything you've done, the entire student body looks up to this team. You set an example. And without you completely focused, we're not going to be able to win next week! Championship games--they don't come along very often. Not at all. They're something special."

Bokuto was staring at the floor, ball clenched tightly in his hands. "Yeah, well, a lot of things are special, Coach."

Ukai stared at him, bewildered. How could he make him understand? "You're the ace, Bokuto. Not a singer. Right?"

Slowly, Bokuto looked up at him. "Did you ever think that maybe I could be both?"

It was silent in the gym. When Ukai didn't have an answer for him, Bokuto dropped the ball, shaking his head. After another sigh, he turned and walked out the door Akaashi had gone out, leaving the ball to roll away across the court.

Eavesdropping through the door, Kuroo turned back to the rest of his teammates that had been listening as well. He made eye contact with Daichi, who looked back solemnly. "We have to do something."

Daichi nodded. "But what?"

Kuroo bit his lip, then sighed. "I didn't think it would come to this, but...I'm going to have to talk to Kenma." He looked down at the ground, preparing himself for the questions. _But Kuroo, it'd been so long, will you be okay? Are you sure you can? Do you have to? Are you really willing to risk so much for your team? For your best friend?_

"Who's Kenma?"

Kuroo's head snapped up, staring at Iwaizumi. Obviously, his declaration hadn't had the dramatic effect he intended. He groaned, grabbing Daichi by the shoulder and pulling him along. 

"Come on, I have a plan."

\- - -

Kuroo finally tracked down Bokuto in the library the next day. He made a beeline for his seat, sitting directly next to him. Dejected Bokuto, he could deal with. Depressed Bokuto? Easy. But this? This was something different, something a lot more serious than the mood swings he was used to. But still, Bokuto was his best friend, through thick or thin, till death do they part. He had to do something, especially for his own good.

"So," he began, voice casual. "What spell has this elevated-IQ temptress cast that suddenly makes you wanna be in a musical?"

Bokuto frowned, probably because of the word temptress. Kuroo added that to the long list of vocab words for Bokuto. "Look, I just did it, okay? Who cares?"

Kuroo frowned at him. "Who cares? Uh, how about your most loyal best friend?"

"Shh!" came from across the library, the harsh noise making them both flinch.

Kuroo lifted his hands in the air. "It's him, not me, Miss." After being eyed, the librarian moved on, and Kuroo moved on as well--to his next tactic.

"Look, you're a volleyball guy. Not a musical singer person." He rolled the ball across the table. Bokuto caught it, but after staring at it for a second, grimaced and rolled it back. Kuroo sighed. "Have you ever seen Michael Crawford on a cereal box?"

Bokuto took the bait, turning to look at him. "Who's Michael Crawford?"

Kuroo grinned. "Exactly my point!" Bokuto rolled his eyes, but Kuroo pressed on. "He played the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Now, my mom has seen that musical 27 times and put Michael Crawford's picture in our fridge." He noticed Bokuto's look. "Yeah, not on it, _in_ it. So my point is, if you play volleyball, you'll end up on cereal boxes. If you sing in musicals, you'll end up in my mom's refrigerator."

Bokuto lifted an eyebrow. "Why would she put his picture in her fridge?"

"One of her crazy diet ideas, I don't know!" Kuroo waved it off. "I don't attempt to understand my mother's mind, Bokuto. It's frightening territory. Speaking of frightening territory, how can you expect the rest of us to be focused on a game while you're off somewhere in leotards singing Twinkle Town?"

Bokuto's eyes widened slightly. "No one said anything about leotards."

"Not yet, my friend, but just you wait." Kuroo looked at him for a second longer, then set his hand on his shoulder. Bokuto looked away, but Kuroo said anyways, "Look, Ace, we need you. Big time."

The librarian reappeared. "Kuroo!"

"I tried to tell him, I did!" Kuroo finally sat back standing up. "I really tried." With one last look, he turned away, walking out of the library. He knew he hadn't probably made much difference with just that talk, but he had at least done some damage. Unfortunately, this meant he still had to talk to Kenma, which he really wasn't looking forward to. 

How do you even start a conversation with someone that you used to be best friends with?

Thinking about it for a day didn't help at all, and neither did putting it off until study hall. 

Kuroo couldn't sleep the night before, he hadn't been able to focus in his classes, and he could barely eat lunch. He was focusing so much on the conversation that he realized he didn't even know what he was going to say, he just knew what he wanted Kenma to say.

_Why? Why why why why why why_

He turned into the science classroom, painfully aware of the way Oikawa and Ushijima were watching him. Figures they'd be in here to study, as bad at science as those two were. He swallowed, ignoring their stares and walking up to Kenma.

As usual, he was in a back corner, notebook and folder open in front of him but a DS on his lap, hidden under the desk. He didn't even look up as Kuroo approached, and he stood there for probably a good two minutes before he cleared his throat. Kenma looked up, confused, then blanched when he saw Kuroo standing there. Quickly, he recovered, narrowing his eyes into his usual bored expression.

"What do you want?"

Kuroo hesitated, just for a second, to savor in his voice being directed at him. It'd been so long, he'd take what he could get. Then he remembered why he was here, and took a deep breath. 

"We need to talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bo would look great in a leotard. just sayin.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> drama?? in _my_ high school musical fic??? it's more likely than you think!!!

Oikawa watched as Kuroo led Kenma out into the hallway, eyes narrowed. "Something's not right."

Ushijima glanced up from his homework to see what Oikawa was looking at. He hummed. "Well, they are mutual friends of our destined rivals, as you call them."

Oikawa's eyebrow twitched. "They are! They are, oh my god. They're probably figuring out a way to make sure that Bokuto and Akaashi actually win!" He put his hands together, and Ushijima set his pen down, preparing for one of Oikawa's speeches. "Now, the jocks rule the school, and if they get Bokuto into the musical, then they've conquered the relevant student body. And by pulling in Kenma, king of the freaks and geeks, they can ensure a hooking up between Bokuto and Akaashi. And if Akaashi actually lands our Boy Blunder, the scholastic club suddenly goes from drool to cool." Oikawa paused, then shuddered.

He spun around, slamming his hands on Ushijima's desk. "We need to save our show from people who don't know the different between a Tony award and Tony Hawk."

Ushijima frowned. "What do the two have to do with each other?"

\- - -

Kuroo led the way out into the hallway and around a corner, to a more secluded area that he knew Kenma would be more comfortable in. It still stung a bit that he made adjustments like that, but it was practically ingrained in him since the age of eight. How could he not?

Kenma went along willingly enough, but once he settled into his corner, he shrugged. "What did you need?"

Kuroo took another breath, then turned around, finally letting himself look at Kenma. It'd been a while since he'd really looked at him. He'd grown a bit since freshman year, but not much, only a few inches. The blonde hair was growing out longer, dark roots showing up again. Kenma was a year younger, but his eyes looked wise beyond his years.

His eyes. Kuroo could never get past his eyes.

Kenma shifted on his feet, and Kuroo cleared his throat. He had a mission, and he would do it. "It's about Bokuto."

Kenma shrugged. "What about him?"

"About him and the musical," Kuroo clarified, and yet again, Kenma shrugged like he didn't see what this had to do with him. "It's been messing with the team, and we need to persuade him that he needs to quit and come back."

Kenma snorted. "Right, you need _my_ help to convince someone else to quit what they love and play volleyball instead. I think you can do that by yourself just fine. Now, if you don't mind, I have homework I need to get to--"

Kuroo shoved down the bitter feeling in his chest. "What are you talking about? Bokuto doesn't sing."

Kenma narrowed his eyes. "Seems like you're still bad at understanding your best friends."

He scowled. "Look, I'm trying to help Bo, but if you're still going to be bitter over freshman year--"

"Bitter?" Kenma actually stopped and turned to face him. "Me, bitter? Over my best friend ditching me? Where did you ever get that idea, Tetsu?"

Kuroo winced at the nickname, but the comment almost stung more. "I didn't ditch you. What are you talking about?"

"It's just happening again, Kuroo," Kenma told him, looking away. "I don't want to be a part of this--"

"What do you mean again?" Kuroo took a step forward. "Be a part of this? Kenma, I'm asking you to help me tell these guys--"

"You're asking me to help someone else give up on something that makes them happy!" Kenma shouted over him, then immediately lowered his voice. Kuroo watched him, dumbfounded. "You think I don't understand? This is exactly what happened freshman year. You tried to do science club and volleyball, and the coach made you pick one of the two, so you picked your new shiny best friend over me and ditched me to become some meathead--"

"Ditched you?" Kuroo shook his head. "Kenma, I never ditched--"

"You left me behind!" Kenma bit his lip, but didn't stop. "You and Bokuto, you ran ahead with your volleyball and forgot all about the science club, the club _you_ started in middle school, might I add. Instead of figuring out a schedule where you could do both, you followed loud, funny Bokuto and left poor little Kenma all alone. I get it, okay? I know I'm not as funny, and not as popular, and not as cool as he is, but I thought that didn't matter to you!" He deflated, falling back against the wall. "I thought that didn't matter. But here you are again, trying to make someone pick one thing over another and leave behind someone they really care about. I don't get it, Tetsu. I just don't get it."

Kuroo stared at him, speechless. Kenma was never one to speak much, especially not in full sentences like this for very long, but he got the feeling that Kenma had been sitting on this for as long as he had. Longer, maybe.

"Kenma…" He trailed off, unsure of where to even start. "Kenma, I don't know what to say. I didn't--I didn't know you felt like that. I never...I never, ever meant to leave you behind, you or the science club." Kenma looked away, but Kuroo pushed on. "I had to choose one or the other. Sure, I loved the science club, but I didn't have the time to keep up with it. Volleyball was really demanding that year, they were making tons of cuts and I had to be at every practice in the off season."

"What about after?" Kenma pressed. "You never came back."

He didn't have to say the _for me_ part, but Kuroo felt it. "I guess...I guess I just thought you'd do better off without me, without someone who couldn't make a commitment. I'm sorry, Kenma. I never meant to make you feel like this. I never wanted to leave you behind." He looked down at his shoes, feeling fully the full scale of his mistakes. How had Kenma been feeling like this, but he'd never known?

The sly comments in passing suddenly made a lot more sense.

"You said this is for Bokuto."

Kuroo looked up, watching Kenma hopefully. Kenma scuffed one toe of his shoe against the ground, not looking. "You said you need to help Bokuto pick. I guess...I'm still mad, don't forget, but I understand. You need him to focus on your game, and he can't do that if he's feeling so torn over both. I'm guessing you approached me because there's a mutual interest?"

Kuroo nodded quickly. "There is, yeah, yeah. I...Akaashi is really smart. Like, probably smarter than I am. He'd kick ass in the decathlon, and we all know it. I think if we showed him that the musical isn't a big deal and that he's actually really good at something, it'd help convince Bokuto that the musical doesn't matter as much as this game does. Musicals come and go, but these chances we have with our respective championships...they're unique. Something we need to do."

Kenma nodded, still staring at the floor. Kuroo could feel something change between them, something subtle. While it wasn't quite forgiveness, it was understanding, a first step towards reconciliation. Honestly, Kuroo would take it. He'd take anything. He hadn't exactly realized it until then, but he missed his best friend _so fucking much._ How could he have ever let something this stupid come between them in the first place?

"While I'm still not totally on board...I may have a plan."

Kuroo watched as Kenma looked at him, eyes shiny but with no tears visible. Kuroo nodded, and Kenma kicked off the wall.

"It's a long shot, but it's probably all we can do. We...you and I need to work on us, but at least for now, we can try and help them."

Kuroo nodded. If anything, it was a start.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really did not think i'd be this emotional over high school musical in 2018

True to his word, Bokuto showed up the next day for free period workout. However, the rest of the team decided not to show up.

"Where the hell are they?" he muttered to himself, landing yet another perfect serve. While he could serve all day, it was kinda boring when he expected at least one other person to be here. After six more serves, he decided to go looking for them.

Coach wasn't at his desk, and the locker room was weirdly silent. He continued peering around corners, even ducking into the showers nobody used to see if he could find someone--anyone. Honestly, it was starting to get a bit creepy. The gym was never this quiet, ever.

What if they'd all been killed?

Silently, Bokuto held his hands closer to his chest. As far as he knew, there had never been a serial killer in their high school, but with the way his luck had been going lately, he wasn't all that surprised that he'd be the target of the first attack. Had the killer gotten his teammates before they could find him?

Bokuto turned a corner and screamed. Standing in front of him was his entire team, all with serious looks on their faces. After staring at them, he let out a huge sigh, grabbing his chest. They were all alive, thank god, even if they did look a little pissed.

"You scared me!" he shouted, leaning heavily on the doorframe. "Why are you guys all in here being quiet? Are we playing hide and seek?" He straightened up a bit. "Are we hiding from someone?"

"Bo, get in here," Kuroo sighed, hands on his hips. Confused, Bokuto took a few steps more into the room, wondering if he was about to be the subject of a prank--again. Instead, Asahi lifted up an old picture.

"Bill 'the Spider' Netrine," Kuroo started, voice solemn. "Class of '72. He was the MVP in the league championship game." Next, Iwaizumi held up another picture, and Kuroo pointed again. "Sam Nedler, class of '02. Also known as Sammy Slamma Jamma. Captain, MVP of the league championship game." 

Daichi held up a picture, explaining, "The Thunder Clap Hap Hadden, of '95. Led the Wildcats to back to back city championships. An absolute legend. What do you think all of these guys had in common?"

Bokuto glanced from picture to picture. "They all had really cool nicknames?"

Kuroo frowned. "No, Bokuto. The point is, do you think any of these Wildcat legends became legends by getting involved in musical auditions just days before the league championships?"

Bokuto's heart dropped. He'd been dreading this. Honestly, he really hoped Kuroo was just going to let it go after the library conversation. It didn't look like he was going to let go of this easily. He should have known better.

"Now," Kuroo clapped his hands together. "Who was the first sophomore ever to make starting varsity?"

The entire team echoed back, "Bokuto!" He winced, but Kuroo didn't stop.

"And who became our ace last year despite not being a senior?"

"Bokuto!"

"Who was the first ever sophomore in Wildcat history to be nominated for an All-American award?"

"Bokuto!"

Kuroo's eyes narrowed, going in for the kill. "And who is going to get their sorry butts kicked in Friday's championship game if our ace is too worried about an audition?"

Less enthusiastically, the team answered, "Us."

Bokuto looked at everyone, trying to salvage the moment. His heart felt like it was slowly turning to lead. "Guys, come on. We have 12 people on the team, it isn't just me out there."

"12? No, Bokuto." Kuroo shook his head, pulling out one final picture from behind the desk and handing it to him. "You're forgetting about the very important 13th member of our squad."

Bokuto took the picture from him, staring down at the man in the frame. It was older, but only just, the uniform slightly different from the ones they wore now. "Ukai."

Kuroo nodded, voice quieter. "Yeah. Wildcat volleyball champion, class of 1991. Champion, Ace, and now coach. Someone that you called the older brother you never had. He's here, and he matters, too."

Bokuto's heart dropped even further as he stared at the picture. Somehow, every word he was saying was true, but Bokuto didn't want to hear it.

**\- - -**

"So, I'm not sure if you know him," Kenma began as he and Akaashi turned into a science classroom. He pointed to a tall blonde kid standing near the chalkboard. "But this is Tsukishima, a friend of Kuroo's. He's got a presentation we'd like you to see."

Akaashi shot him a look. "If this is another ploy to get me to join the decathlon--"

"Akaashi."

He looked at Kenma, who gestured to a stool. "Please, just listen." Akaashi watched him, then nodded slowly, taking a seat and looking to Tsukishima.

Tsukishima set a large poster board on the edge of the chalkboard, then pulled out a laser pointer. Clearing his throat, he began. "From lowly Neanderthal and Cro-Magnon, to early warriors, medieval knights. All of these leaps and bounds, all leading up to…" Tsukishima pulled out yet another poster. "A lunkhead volleyball player."

The poster was a poorly photoshopped version of a volleyball shoe ad with Bokuto's head blown up and positioned over the original model. Akaashi suppressed a smirk, turning back to listen to Tsukishima.

"Yes, our culture worshipped the aggressor throughout the ages, and we end up with spoiled, overpaid, bonehead athletes who contribute little to civilization other than slam dunks and touchdowns." Tsukishima lifted an eyebrow. "That is the inevitable world of Bokuto. So if you like taking the backseat and playing cheerleader, by all means, go for it." He clicked on the projector now, beginning to go through slides as he spoke. "But the path of the mind, the path _we're on,_ ours is the path that has brought us these people: Eleanor Roosevelt, Frida Kahlo, Sandra Day O'Connor, Madame Curie, Jane Goodall, Oprah Winfrey and so many others who the world reveres."

Akaashi stared at him. "While I appreciate the time that went into this, is this relevant to anything? I've actually got Yachi waiting for me to--"

"Akaashi."

Akaashi blinked, looking at Kenma. Still quietly, Kenma told him, "Please. Just listen." He frowned, but turned back to Tsukishima.

He pointed back to the chart. "Bokuto represents one side of evolution. And on our side, the side of education and accomplishment, is the future of civilization. And this is the side where you belong."

**\- - -**

Bokuto crossed his arms on his chest after setting the picture of Ukai on the locker room bench beside him. "Guys, if you don't know that I'll put 110% of my guts into that game, then you don't know me!"

Kuroo nudged Daichi, who subtly slid the laptop on the desk opened as Kuroo argued. "Bo, we just thought--"

"I'll tell you what I thought!" Bokuto snapped, and even though it hurt, Kuroo was glad. In order for the plan to work, Bokuto had to get on a mood swing, get angry. Hopefully they'd poked just the right buttons. Daichi clicked for the feed to connect just in time as Bokuto kept yelling. 

"I thought you were my friends! Win together, lose together, teammates."

Kuroo pursed his lips. "But suddenly...Akaashi? You're spending all that time with him. And the singing!"

"God! I just--" Bokuto pulled at his hair. "I'm for the team! I've always been for volleyball, for the team. He's just some guy I met on vacation!"

**\- - -**

_"He's just some guy I met on vacation!"_

The words rang out through the room, coming through surprisingly well on those old speakers. Akaashi was frozen, staring at the laptop screen, and at Bokuto, who clearly had no idea he was being filmed.

 _"The singing--the singing is nothing, okay?"_ Bokuto continued, looking like he was at his wits end. _"Probably just a way to keep the nerves down, or something. I don't know, it means nothing. But volleyball is everything. You're my guys, and this is our team. Akaashi…"_ Bokuto's voice faltered, and for a second, Akaashi let the hope flare up again. In the next second, it was shattered. 

_"Akaashi isn't important. I'll forget about him, I'll forget about the audition, and we'll go out and get that championship. Okay? Are you happy?"_ Bokuto's hands dropped to his sides, face dejected. _"Are you happy--"_

The laptop clicked closed, and Tsukishima took a step forward. "Behold, the lunkhead volleyball boy." Akaashi's head dropped, eyes focusing on his lap as his chest caved in. Or at least, that's what it felt like. He couldn't get enough air. The world was collapsing.

"The offer for the scholastic decathlon team still stands," Tsukishima offered as he began packing away his things. "We can go and get lunch if you want to get all signed up."

Akaashi stood, shaking his head. Without glancing back, he left the room, almost breaking out into a run as he made it into the hallway. Thankfully, it was mostly deserted, and no one saw his mad dash to the nearest bathroom. He locked himself into the last stall, sliding to the ground with his back against the cold tile. It did nothing for the feeling in his chest, for his heaving breaths.

He wouldn't cry. He wasn't going to let himself cry over some stupid meathead jock.

Even as he thought the words, he knew it wasn't true. 

Through the hallway and the bathroom, echoes of an impromptu cheering session were ringing, only helping Akaashi to remember every single word that he had seen Bokuto say on the video. Who _was_ that guy? He'd never seen Bokuto so stressed out, and he'd never imagined he'd hear those words come from him.

_Akaashi isn't important._

His head fell forward, and he took in a shaky breath. Well, he had his answer now. If there were any doubts before, they were gone. Kenma had been right, back in the beginning. Their two worlds didn't mix well, regardless of the exceptional circumstances under which they had met.

He allowed himself another few minutes to think back on things, then pushed himself off the floor, wiping under his eyes. A quick glance in the mirror told him his usual poker face was back in place, so he stepped into the hallways. The bell must have rang at some point, because everyone was back out in the hall heading somewhere. He made his way to his locker silently, feeling a little guilty that he had completely ditched Yachi today.

As soon as he got his locker open, a familiar presence appeared over his shoulder. Instead of the usual accompanying butterflies, it just made his stomach cramp up, and he pursed his lips.

"Hey! Akaashi, hi. How are you?" Akaashi stayed silent, and Bokuto took a deep breath before telling him, "Listen. There's, uh, something I wanna talk to you about."

The last thread of patience Akaashi had snapped. He turned to Bokuto, eyes slightly narrowed. "And here it is: I know what it's like to carry a load with your friends. I get it, Bokuto. You've got your boys. It's okay. We're fine. We're good."

Bokuto blinked at him, obviously confused. "Good about what? I was gonna talk to you about final callbacks."

Akaashi shrugged, looking back at his locker. "You're right. I don't want to do the callbacks either. Who are we trying to kid?" Akaashi could feel the bitterness seeping into his tone, but he couldn't quite stop himself. "You've got your team and I've got mine. I'll do the scholastic decathlon and you'll win the championships. It's where we belong." With a surge of pettiness, Akaashi reached into his locker and pulled out his copy of the song, handing it to Bokuto with a little more force than necessary.

"Go Wildcats."

Bokuto looked down at the sheet music, then back up to Akaashi. "But, wait, I--"

Akaashi shook his head. "Me either." He shut his locker, ignoring Bokuto's bewildered cry behind him.

"Akaashi? Wait, Akaashi!--"

Akaashi slipped between the other students in the crowd and let himself be carried away.

**\- - -**

Kuroo watched helplessly over the next two days as Bokuto slowly began self-destructing. In practice, he missed easy hits, his blocks were subpar, only a third of his serves made it over the net. Ukai had him running laps, but even when he was soaked with sweat, the same upset expression on his face never changed.

"Should we do something?" Daichi asked him, but Kuroo shook his head.

"Nah, he'll come back out. Give him some time to get over it."

It didn't look like he was getting over it. He missed assignments in school, forgot the easiest equations, and even when Kuroo was physically giving him the answer in English, he still messed up. 

Akaashi didn't look much better. While he was less expressive than Bokuto, it was easy to see he had retreated into himself, staying mostly behind his book with his shoulders slumped. 

In the cafeteria, Kuroo watched as Bokuto and Akaashi made eye contact, but Akaashi turned and sat at a completely different table while Bokuto ran out of the room. Worried, he glanced at Kenma, only to see him sending back a similar expression. Kuroo stood, going over to Kenma, who was already nodding.

"We need to do something."

**\- - -**

Bokuto kicked against the metal pole of the railing again. What had he even done? He and Akaashi were totally fine, and then two days ago, everything fell apart. Now Akaashi wouldn't even look at him. In the cafeteria, Bokuto had been ready, he was going to say something, and it looked like Akaashi was ready to listen--

And then he turned and walked away.

Bokuto ducked his head against his chest. He was sure he had screwed it up somehow. He always messed things up. 

"Bokuto?"

He turned quickly, expecting--he didn't know who he was expecting really ( _yes he did_ ) but he slumped upon seeing Kuroo. Daichi and Iwaizumi were right behind him, all of them coming up the stairs with nervous expressions. 

"Oh."

Kuroo crinkled his nose is what seemed like a guilty expression. "Hey. We, ah, had another team meeting."

Bokuto sighed and turned away again. "Oh. Great. Wonderful."

"We had a team meeting about how we haven't been acting like a team," Kuroo rushed out. "I mean, us, not you. It's just…" He sighed. "Look, about the singing thing…"

Bokuto barked out a harsh laugh. "Dude, I really don't want to talk about it--"

"We just want you to know that we're gonna be there."

Bokuto paused, then turned around. "What?"

Kuroo stared back at him, determined. "We're going to be there, okay? Cheering for you, at your auditions. And when you get the part, we'll all come to the show."

Daichi nodded. "If singing is something you want to do, we should be boosting you up, not tearing you down." He smiled sadly. "I've let you down pretty badly as your captain."

Kuroo nodded. "Win or lose, we're your teammates. Support and love, that's what we're about. Even if you turn out to be the worst singer in the world."

"Which," Iwaizumi tilted his head thoughtfully, "We don't know, because we haven't actually heard you sing."

Bokuto wanted to smile, but he still felt the same icy chill in his chest. "Guys, you aren't gonna get to hear me sing. Akaashi...he won't talk to me. I don't know why."

The three shared a look, then Kuroo looked at him. "We do."

Bokuto's heart stopped. "What?"

Silently, Iwaizumi reached into his backpack and pulled out a bag of cookies. He handed them to Bokuto, saying quietly, "I baked those fresh this morning. You might wanna eat them before you hear what we have to say."

**\- - -**

Akaashi set his book down, crossing his arms as he stared up at Kenma. "What do you want?"

Kenma didn't even narrow his eyes at the tone, just shoved his hands deeper in his pockets. "I want to apologize. I was a jerk to you. I was...I was worse than a jerk. I knew what doing something like this could do to someone and I did it anyways."

Akaashi frowned at him, utterly lost. "What are you talking about?"

Kenma sighed. "I thought that Bokuto and the singing thing was killing the chances of you joining the team, and--"

"I heard what he had to say," Akaashi interrupted, not liking the stinging feeling that was rising in his throat. "I'm on your team, now. Done."

"No, not done. You heard what we _made_ him say," Kenma corrected. "I knew that Kuroo could get him to say anything we wanted, something to make you want to forget about callbacks. We planned the whole thing. It was...it was wrong, to try and make you pick and choose and not even give you a real choice in the matter. It was manipulative and terrible, and I'm sorry." Kenma looked at the ground, voice barely above a whisper. "I'm sorry, Akaashi."

The glimmer of hope threatened to reignite again, but Akaashi quickly stamped it out. He wouldn't be made a fool of again. "No one forced Bokuto to say anything, he can make his own decisions." Kenma looked up sharply, and Akaashi shrugged. "And you know what? It's okay. We should be preparing for the decathlon now, so it's time to move on."

Kenma's face pinched together. "No, it's not okay! The decathlon is just some stupid school competition. But how you feel about me, as your friend, and even more importantly, how you feel about Bokuto: that's what really matters."

Akaashi stared at him, shocked by the force behind his voice. Kenma stared right back, adding, "Your feelings matter. We should have put you above our own ambitions. There's always next year for school competitions, but you don't always have a second chance at friendships."

Akaashi swallowed thickly, then looked down. Slowly, he picked his book back up and opened up to the page he left off on. He couldn't read it, his vision was blurry, and after a minute of silence, Kenma finally sighed and left. 

Akaashi didn't get anything done at school that day, and was silent when he got home. His mother, sensing something was the matter, didn't push. Akaashi wandered from room to room, trying to find something to distract himself with. He finally settled for sitting in the front room, staring blankly at some rerun of a show his mother used to watch. The doorbell rang around dinner time, but he let it go, knowing his mother would get it. Thanks to his proximity to the entryway, however, he had a front row to listen.

"Hi, Miss Akaashi? I'm Bokuto, I'm...friends with Akaashi."

"Oh!" His mother's surprise was evident. "Bokuto! Hello!"

Akaashi immediately sat up, shaking his head so that his mother could see. She pursed her lips, but put on a smile as she turned back to the door. "I'm sorry, but Keiji's busy with homework right now, so it's not really a good time."

He could so easily imagine the look on Bokuto's face. "Oh. Well, I just wanted…" There was a long pause, and Bokuto finally said, "I made a mistake, Miss Akaashi. A big one. And I want to let Akaashi know I'm sorry. Can you...can you tell him I stopped by?"

His mother's voice was warm. "Of course, Bokuto. It was nice to meet you." The door closed shortly after, and she came into the room, lifting an eyebrow. "Is that the reason you've been moping around the last few days?"

Akaashi looked away, and his mother hummed as she moved back to the kitchen. "Pretty cute reason, if you ask me." 

Akaashi closed his eyes, willing himself not to sigh. Rather than sit and endure a well-intended lecture from his mother, he chose to go upstairs and try and get some work done at least.

No sooner had he sat down than his phone lit up, ringing loudly in his quiet room. He frowned at the caller ID, but picked up anyways.

_Hope is the last thing to die._

"Bokuto?"

Said caller jumped in immediately, making Akaashi hold his phone slightly away from his ear.

_"What you heard, none of that is true. I was just really really sick of Kuroo riding me about singing with you, so I said some things that I thought would shut them up. I didn't mean any of it!"_

Akaashi turned on his nightstand light, frowning even though he knew Bokuto couldn't see him. "You sounded pretty convincing to me."

Bokuto sighed loudly, once again making Akaashi pull back. _"Listen, the guy you met on vacation is really me! The one you sang karaoke with! That's the real me, more me than the guy who said that stupid stuff."_

Akaashi chewed on his lip. "Bokuto...the whole 'singing thing', as you put it, is making the school go crazy. You said so yourself. Everyone is treating you differently because of it."

_"Maybe because suddenly I'm not just the volleyball guy and now I'm also a singer guy. It's too cool for them to handle! That's not my problem, it's theirs."_

"What about your team?"

_"This isn't about the team! Kaashi, look. This is about me, and how I feel. I'm not letting the team down just by doing something I wanna do. So, I'm gonna tryout. Are you?"_

Akaashi set his head in his hands, mind whirling. "I don't know, Bokuto…"

_"Well, you kinda have to say yes. Because I brought you something."_

Akaashi sat up. "What?"

_"Turn around!"_

Slowly, chest swelling, Akaashi turned around on his bed. Sure enough, there stood Bokuto on his balcony, leaves in his hair and phone still in his hand. Akaashi hung up, making Bokuto grin wider and wave. Akaashi crossed the room, opening up the door, and instantly, Bokuto started singing.

_"This could be the start of something new…"_

Akaashi smiled despite himself. The karaoke song. Of course he would, the big sap. He laughed, then held out a hand, stopping Bokuto, who grimaced.

"Yeah, not as good without the music."

Akaashi lifted an eyebrow. "You said you brought me something?"

"Right!" Bokuto pulled out a many-folded piece of paper from his pocket. He unfolded it quickly, holding it up so Akaashi could see it in the light from his room. Helpfully, Bokuto supplied, "It _is_ a pairs audition. I don't think they'll let me sing both parts by myself."

Akaashi stared at him, trying to figure out what in his life had led him to this moment. Here, to a boy who definitely just tore the shorts he was wearing while climbing a tree to come and try and make up to someone he cared about. Without trying, a soft smile spread across his face, and if he was being honest, he felt nothing but a surge of affection for this lunkhead volleyball player.

Bokuto waited, lifting an eyebrow. "So...will you sing with me?"

Akaashi crossed the distance between them, taking the sheet music from him and smiling up at him. "Yes. Yes, Bokuto, I will." Bokuto's face lit up, and he grabbed Akaashi, spinning him around in a wide circle while he cheered.

"Bokuto, put me down! The neighbors--" Bokuto laughed, setting him down gently, and Akaashi couldn't help but ask, "Did you honestly climb this tree just to serenade me?"

Bokuto's chest puffed out, proud. "Pretty romantic, huh? Thought of it all by myself." Akaashi shook his head with a chuckle, then invited Bokuto inside to meet his mother properly this time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> can you believe we're almost done

The next few days were a whirlwind of hectic schedules, but Akaashi couldn't remember having more fun. Free periods alternated between singing with Bokuto and Yachi and practicing equations and experiments with the decathlon team. After school, he and Bokuto both had their respective practices before they met up to go to rehearsal again. Both of their teams were doing well, and it seemed like some of the craziness of the student body had settled down a bit.

Akaashi watched Bokuto during rehearsals, the way his entire face light up when he sang. Bokuto had a different dance routine every time they ran through it, insisting on spinning Akaashi at least three times. Yachi only encouraged him, clapping excitedly whenever they sounded good.

This time, Akaashi was sure nothing could stop them.

\- - -

Oikawa hummed to himself as he made his way to the auditorium, debating whether he should change the color of his suit. Blue looked good on him, sure, but purple was much more flashy, and the deep color might show up better under the stage lights.

"Do you hear that?"

He turned, looking at Ushijima. "Hear what?"

Ushijima frowned--he was always frowning, really--and looked around. "I think it's from the hallway to our left." Confused, Oikawa let him lead the way, and sure enough, as soon as they turned the corner, he heard it.

Singing.

They were rehearsing.

Oikawa sprinted ahead, quickly finding the doorway. He peered in through the window, ignoring Ushijima who leaned over him to look as well. Inside of the room, Bokuto and Akaashi stood in front of a piano, Yachi playing away with a massive grin on her face. Akaashi was smiling as well, and it made Oikawa furious.

Ushijima hummed. "Wow. They're good."

Oikawa spun around, pushing his step brother away from the door. "Okay okay okay. Okay. We need to do something." Ushijima watched him idly, and Oikawa began pacing the hallway in front of him. "Okay, okay, think, Oikawa, _think!_ Okay, our callbacks are tomorrow and the basketball game and the scholastic decathlon are on Friday."

Oikawa froze. Oh, this was good. Slowly, he turned to Ushijima, lifting one eyebrow. "Too bad all these events aren't happening on the same day at the same time…"

Ushijima frowned at him. "Well that wouldn't work, because then Bokuto and Akaashi couldn't try out."

Oikawa stared at him.

Ushijima blinked. "Oh. I understand. You're trying an underhanded way of getting them to be unable to audition."

Oikawa smacked his arm. "It's only underhanded if someone finds us out!" He glanced around quickly, then pulled Ushijima back in their original direction. "Come on. We need to have a little talk with our wonderful director."

\- - -

Yachi straightened up her papers after school, trying to get everything organized in the small section of the filing cabinet the music teacher let her have in the auditorium. She'd been practicing all week with Bokuto and Akaashi, and if she had it her way, those two would play all the parts in the musical! Of course, that wasn't practical, and also kind of silly, but still. The sentiment was there.

The door to the auditorium opened, and as Yachi caught sight of who was coming in, ducked down. Oh man, she really did not want to see them right now. Nekomata was already arguing, waving one hand in the air. Yachi peeked up over the desk in front of her to try and see what they were yelling about.

"I don't want to hear any more about that Bokuto and the Akaashi boy." Nekomata's voice echoed in the room. "However, if you're telling me as co-presidents of the drama club that changing the callbacks would be best for our theater program, then I might actually agree with you." He glanced around, then nodded at Oikawa before taking off for the other side of the auditorium.

Ushijima looked to Oikawa. "Is that a yes?" Oikawa smiled and winked before turning around, humming his own tryout song. Ushijima turned to follow. "Is it? He never said yes. Oikawa, wait up."

Yachi spun around with her back against the desk and a hand to her mouth. Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no. This was very very bad.

\- - -

Kuroo kept an arm around Bokuto as they walked into the school, laughing. "No, no, it was nothing like that, I swear. Just some minor pink jelly incidents, no biggie." Akaashi shot him a look, and Kuroo grinned back, pulling Bokuto closer. Akaashi's eyes narrowed minutely, and Kuroo almost laughed. _Bingo._ "Akaashi, you feeling okay?"

Akaashi's eyes narrowed further. "I'm fine. How's Kenma?"

Kuroo frowned, then took his arm off of Bokuto. Akaashi smirked, and Kuroo rolled his eyes. As fun as it was to have someone just as smart as him to mess with, it was getting old pretty quick.

"Yachi?"

Kuroo turned to look, following Bokuto's gaze. He was staring at the board where the callbacks had been posted. Seeing a new piece of paper, the three of them made their way over to the board, looking at the notice.

Kuroo barely stopped himself from shouting. "What?!"

Akaashi's eyes narrowed as Bokuto shrieked, "Callbacks at the same time as the game?!"

"And the decathlon." The three looked as Kenma came up, his face turned down in disappointment as well. "Why would they do that?"

Kuroo growled, "I smell a rat named Nekomata."

"Two rats, actually, and neither of them are named Nekomata."

Kuroo looked around to see where the voice had come from, then noticed a small blonde head in front of him. He blinked at her. "Do you know something about this…" He also realized that he had no idea who she was. "...Small person?"

The blonde girl ignored him and turned to Bokuto. "Nekomata's been convinced he's protecting the show, but Oikawa and Ushijima are only doing this to protect themselves. They're afraid of you, I know it. They know they're about to be beat."

Kuroo cracked his knuckles above her head. "You know what I'm gonna do to those two over-moussed assholes? I'll--"

"Do nothing," Kenma told him, raising an eyebrow. "Nekomata's upset enough as it is. If you do anything else, he might not let them audition at all." Kuroo sighed, frustrated. Of course he was right.

"What can we do, then?" Akaashi asked, looking around. "Can we go to the principal?"

"Takeda?" Kuroo snorted. "No, he's useless. He'd just cancel everything except volleyball, and we can't do that to the decathlon team."

Bokuto cocked his head. "Guys."

Kenma looked sharply at Kuroo. "Can't do that to the decathlon team?"

Kuroo shot him a look. "Well, yeah. You guys have been working really hard, I don't want to mess things up for you guys." Kenma's glare softened, but Bokuto interrupted them.

"Guys!" He looked at all of them. "I think I have a plan!"

Kuroo stared at him. "You? You have a plan?"

Bokuto nodded eagerly, and Akaashi smiled at him. "I knew I picked you to sing with for a reason." Bokuto beamed, then turned back.

"Look, it's a long shot, and it's only gonna work if we're all on board and we all work together. Okay?" He looked around once more, then stuck his hand out. "So who's in?"

Akaashi's reaction was almost immediate, and he smirked at Kuroo. Kuroo, not wanting to be outdone, stuck his hand in. "You can count on me, bro."

"Me too!" the blonde girl added, even though her knees were visibly knocking together.

Kenma smirked, adding his hand to the pile. "I guess." 

Bokuto grinned at all of them. "Alright, here's what we're going to do…"

\- - -

Kuroo should have known that Bokuto's plan would have a million unnecessary steps. Kenma had already nixed the marching band, so they didn't have to worry about that at least, but Kuroo still thought this was a little much.

Iwaizumi, however, didn't seem to care at all.

Bokuto grinned over at Kuroo. "You ready, bro?" Kuroo rolled his eyes, which Bokuto must have taken as a yes, because he pulled his hands away from Akaashi's eyes. "Surprise!" Kuroo pulled back as well, and Iwaizumi pushed the dish forward as the two boys looked.

"A pi pie," he clarified. "Just a simple fruit pie, but I didn't want to make anything heavy to weigh you down during your match. I've been meaning to try out this recipe--"

"It's wonderful, Iwaizumi," Akaashi interrupted politely, and Iwaizumi smiled, backing off. Kenma was looking interestedly at the pie, but Akaashi grabbed his shoulder, turning to look back at the boys behind them. "We have something for the surprise portion of the plan as well."

Bokuto immediately jumped up. "You do? You do! What is it? Do we get food, too?" Akaashi smiled, leading the way over to a large chalkboard at the back of the classroom.

Bokuto drooped. "Oh, you got us...an equation?"

Kuroo smacked his forehead while Akaashi sighed. "No. Just one moment, Bokuto." He waited for Kenma to grab the other side of the board, and together, they flipped it, revealing a large, painted poster. It was of a Wildcat spiking a volleyball, with flames around the edges. Bokuto screamed.

"This is amazing! This is the coolest thing ever! Kuroo, look! That Wildcat has my jersey on! There's flames!"

Kenma looked at Akaashi. "I told you he'd like the flames."

Bokuto punched a fist in the air. "Alright! On to phase 13!"

Kuroo shot a look at Kenma. "I can't believe we got through phases one through twelve before noon." Kenma smirked, but Kuroo waved, following Bokuto out the door and down towards the arts wing. They met up with the other team members in the hallway, and as they came around the corner, they caught up with just who they were looking for.

"Coach Nekomata!" Bokuto shouted, waving him down. "Wait, wait, come here, we have something we wanna show you guys." Iwaizumi and Asahi came out of the classroom then, both of them dragging Oikawa and Ushijima. Bokuto positioned them all, then ran back to join the team lining up.

"Ready?" Bokuto shouted, then looked back to see Oikawa's face. "Now!"

One by one, the team members opened their jackets to reveal t-shirts with a letter each on them. "G! O! D! R! A! M! A! C! L! U! B!" Bokuto opened his last, beaming. "Exclamation point!"

Nekomata laughed, slapping Ushijima on the shoulder. Ushijima didn't move. "Well, boys! That was very kind of you! I appreciate the support you're showing your fellow students." Oikawa, on the other hand, looked like he had just eaten a lemon.

The bell rang, and students began filing out into the hall to head to the game. Nekomata shot Oikawa a look. "Seems like us Wildcats are in for a very interesting afternoon." Oikawa's look soured further, and Nekomata was already moving on down the hallway. Grimacing, Oikawa pulled on Ushijima's arm, then looked back when he hadn't moved. 

"What?"

Ushijima was watching the basketball players leave. "Was it all one word? I couldn't figure out what they were spelling. God ram? Our mascot is a Wildcat." Oikawa rolled his eyes and pulled them both down the hallway.

\- - -

Even in the locker room, Bokuto could hear the cheers that were already happening in the gym. It added a certain tingle to the excitement he was already feeling, knowing the entire school was there to only see part of a game. Of course, no one else knew that except for the Elite Hyper Action Audition Squad.

"How ya feeling?"

Bokuto looked up from where he was trying to think of a better group name for the four of them. Ukai was approaching him, an easygoing smile on his face. Things had been tense after Bokuto told him he was still going to audition, but he had the sneaking suspicion that Kuroo had talked to their coach as well, especially with how fast Ukai seemed to change his tune. 

"Nervous, mostly," Bokuto admitted. And he was, there was still 16 more phases left to complete before he even got to the auditorium.

Ukai smiled and nodded. "Yeah, me too. Almost wish I could suit up and play with you guys."

Bokuto snorted. "Come on, Coach, you already had your turn." Ukai kept smiling, turning to look at the doors that led out into the gym. It was silent for a moment between them, both of them thinking about the game. After a minute, Ukai turned back to look at him, thoughtful.

"You know what I want from you today?"

Bokuto nodded. "The championship."

Ukai sighed, but kindly this time. "Well, that'll come or it won't." Bokuto stared at him, confused, and he continued, "What I want from you is to have fun. I know what it's like to have all that pressure on you, and probably a big portion of that has come from me. I just...I saw so much of myself in you, the first time I saw you tryout, and I'm afraid that somewhere along the way, it became less about me coaching you and more about me trying to relive my glory days through you." He shook his head. "I meant what I said at last year's end of year banquet. I really have come to think of you like a little brother, and more than anything else, I want you to be happy. What I want from you today is to see you having the time of your life playing the game that we both love. You give me that? I'll sleep with a smile on my face no matter how the score turns out."

Bokuto was speechless, mouth dropped open in surprise. Ukai laughed nervously, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck. "I know, I know, I'm not the best at speeches, Kuroo could have done a better job at amping you up, but--"

"Thanks," Bokuto interrupted him. He swallowed as Ukai looked back at him. All of the nervousness was seeping out of him, replaced only with excitement. "Thanks, Ukai. I mean, Coach." Ukai smiled, clapping him once on the shoulder before he turned and made his way back to the rest of the team.

Bokuto bounced on his toes. He felt like he could fly.

\- - -

The announcer cleared his throat, then stepped forward to the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the tenth annual Scholastic Decathlon! Please give a hand for our competing teams, the East High Wildcats versus the West High Knights!"

The crowd applauded as Akaashi and the rest of the team moved to shake hands with the Knights. A particularly snake-looking boy grinned at Akaashi. "Good luck, kittens."

Kenma stepped on his foot, stopping Akaashi before he had even moved, whispering, "It's against the rules to physically harm the other team."

Akaashi finished shaking his hand and took a step back, keeping his face impassive. "What a shame." Kenma snorted, then took up his position next to him at the table.

\- - -

"Hello hello! Welcome!" Nekomata smiled warmly at some other adults that had just entered the auditorium. "Here, you can sit here." Yachi watched him seat people, wondering why it mattered so much if most of the auditorium was going to be empty anyways. With a shake of her head, she turned back to her piano, willing her hands to stop shaking. 

The Incredible Hyper Audition Plan Extravaganza Exciting Moment Plan was going to work. It had to! Especially with a name like that!

Taking a deep breath, she practiced the song.

 

In the gym, the Wildcats exited the gym to a massive roar from the stands.

"And now, our home team, the East High Wildcats!"

Ukai was already out there, shouting at them to start warm ups instead of pandering to the crowd. Bokuto continued waving, only starting with warm ups when Daichi physically dragged him to the court.

"...for this championship game between East High and West High!"

He could feel the announcer's voice deep in his bones. The plan was going to work. It had a cool name, it had to work.

"What about--"

"Bokuto we are not naming our plan after Phantom of the Opera."

"How did you know I was going to say that?!"

 

Akaashi and Snake Boy were the first to go up for the equation race. He took a deep breath, refusing to look at the other board where the boy was shooting him looks. Akaashi waited, and as the buzzer sounded, immediately began working through the problem.

Child's play.

 

Yachi stood on the right of Coach Nekomata, trying not to flinch as his speech continued on and on. 

"...Casting the leads of a show is both a challenge and a responsibility. A joy and a burden. I commend you and all other young artists to hold out for the moon, the sun, and the stars." Nekomata finally bowed his head, and Yachi and the ten other people in the auditorium clapped. Nekomata held out his hand to Yachi, which she took warily. "Shall we soar together?"

A flash went off in her face, making her flinch, but she was dragged to the side as Nekomata called out, "Oikawa and Ushijima!"

A latin beat began, and Yachi waited to see what other song of hers they had destroyed.

 

Bokuto had already tuned out the announcer, but he knew he kept saying important things from the way the crowd was cheering. He finished shaking hands with the other team, going to the spot he always started in. The down ref was done checking lineups too soon, and everyone shifted.

"You ready?" Kuroo asked, next to him. Bokuto nodded.

"Born ready, bro."

 

Akaashi glanced one last time at his equation, already knowing it was perfect, then spun around and hit his buzzer. Snake Boy glared at him, but the judge was checking over his work with a careful eye. After ten painful seconds, the judge turned, pointing to Akaashi.

"And the first point goes to East High!"

The rest of the team cheered, Kenma shooting him a small smile. Akaashi turned to look one more time at Snake Boy, offering a half-hearted shrug. He scowled all the way back to his seat, and Akaashi quickly sat next to Kenma as they moved on to the next round. Tsukishima stood, moving up to the table to compete, and Kenma slid open the laptop.

"All right, Wildcats," Kenma hummed to himself, already entering the code. "Time for an orderly exit from the gym." Akaashi watched the numbers fly by, wishing he understood computer programming as well as Kenma did.

Perhaps he could ask Snake Boy for a lesson.

 

Bokuto spun around, already cheering as the ball hit the floor. Kuroo was first to him, slamming him on the back as he cheered as well. In the middle of their celebration, the time out buzzer went off, and both teams paused, looking around. Suddenly, the lights began flashing, and the up ref waved to the table. Before they could do anything, all three buzzers began to go off.

Principal Takeda stood up nervously, taking the microphone. "Well! Looks like we're having some technical difficulties. In order to preserve our ear drums, I'd like to ask everyone to please exit the gym. We will resume the game when possible!"

Kuroo shoved Bokuto on the shoulder. "Bro, get going!"

"Oh, yeah!" He threw a fist in the air. "Phase 22!" Ukai watched him go, then looked back at Daichi.

"Phase 22?"

Daichi shook his head tiredly. Ukai sometimes wondered if Daichi was going to go grey before he did.

 

Back in the decathlon room, Akaashi watched Tsukishima perform his experiment with expert precision. Kenma nudged Akaashi, gesturing to a beaker off to the side. It had been set up for something happening later on, and Kenma wasn't the only one noticing the smoke coming from it.

"Um, is that supposed to be happening?" Snake Boy called, the closest to the beaker. On cue, the smoke exploded, covering half the room in four seconds. Everyone yelled, rushing out of the room. Akaashi turned to start down the hallway, but Kenma stopped him, a gentle hand on his arm.

"Good luck, Akaashi."

Akaashi blinked, then smiled at him. "Thank you, Kenma. See you soon." Without waiting, he turned and sprinted down the hallway. Kenma watched him go, frowning.

"He forgot to take his lab coat off."

 

Oikawa and Ushijima's song finished with a flourish of trumpets, and Yachi was on the verge of tears. Again. For the 13th time tonight. The spectators seemed to love it, however, as all of them burst into applause. Oikawa grinned and waved to the crowd, blowing kisses while Ushijima nodded a few times.

Nekomata swept back onto the stage. "Incredible! Truly, a stellar performance!" He turned to face the crowd. "Do you see why we love the theater, people?" He laughed and clapped a couple more times, then pulled out his clipboard. "Now, the next auditions! Koutarou Bokuto and Keiji Akaashi."

There was silence in the theater. Yachi looked around nervously. They should have been well into phase 24 by now, where were they?

Nekomata looked around again, as did everyone else. Oikawa smirked smugly from the side of the stage. "Bokuto? Akaashi?"

Yachi looked at him desperately. "They'll be here!"

Nekomata chuckled and looked at her. "The theater, as I have pointed out quite often in the past two weeks, waits for no one. I'm sorry." Yachi, unable to control herself any longer, ran off the side of the stage. Nekomata turned back to the crowd. "Well, it appears we are done here! Congratulations to all. The cast list will be posted shortly--"

"Wait!"

Everyone's heads spun to the right side of the theater. Bokuto, in his full uniform, was sprinting down the aisle. "Wait! I'm here!"

Nekomata narrowed his eyes. "I called your names. Twice. And you don't even have your partner--"

"I'm here!" 

Everyone spun to the left side. Akaashi, ripping off his lab coat as he went, waved. "I'm here! We can sing!"

Nekomata puffed up, "Rules are rules!" As he spoke the words, the doors opened once again behind Bokuto and Akaashi, and everyone from the decathlon and the game began to pour in. Nekomata watched, speechless. He'd never seen the auditorium this full in all his years here.

Oikawa's eyes were practically sparkling as he drew up next to Nekomata. "We'll be happy to perform it again for our fellow students, Coach Nekomata."

Nekomata glanced around wildly. "Well, quite frankly, I have no idea what is going on here, but regardless, it's far too late and they haven't got a pianist."

Oikawa shrugged, looking at Akaashi, who had finally made it to the stage. "Well, that's show biz!"

Bokuto leapt up onto the stage with one jump. Akaashi blinked, impressed. Also, intrigued. He hadn't seen Bokuto wear kneepads that long before. The effect was...rather nice. Breathless, Bokuto told Nekomata, "We'll sing without a piano."

"Oh no you won't!" Yachi ran back on stage, trying to hold her hat on her head. "Pianist here, Coach Nekomata, sir!"

Oikawa's smile dropped. He leaned over Yachi, growling, "You really don't want to do that."

Yachi only hesitated for half a second before she drew up to her full height, an imposing four foot nine. "Oh, yes I really do!" She turned and sprinted to her piano, yelling over her shoulder, "Ready on stage!"

Oikawa, speechless, watched her go. Nekomata, with a sly smile on his face, turned and grinned at him.

"Now, that, my young student, is show biz."


	11. Chapter 11

Bokuto decided right then and there that watching Oikawa run off stage in a huff was one of the best things he had ever seen. He was so proud of Yachi. Could he adopt her?

"Bokuto?" Akaashi touched his arm, and he looked back at him.

"Can we adopt Yachi?"

Akaashi blinked at him, then smirked. "It seems a little early to discuss children, Bokuto, but we can talk about that later. Right now, we need to perform."

On cue, the lights on stage dropped, bathing everything in a dreamy blue. Bokuto's mouth dropped open as he caught sight of Akaashi. His hair shone in the light like this, and his dark blue eyes--were hidden behind rubber. Plastic?

"You still have your safety goggles on," Bokuto whispered with a giggle, pulling them off for him. He turned and took the microphones from the stage hand, handing one off to Akaashi. "You ready?" Akaashi nodded, and Bokuto turned, taking his place on stage. He'd rehearsed 16 different dance routines, but he wasn't sure which one to go with. He didn't want to be flashy like Oikawa, but this song made him feel so bouncy. Akaashi made him feel bouncy. Akaashi made him happy, and there had to be some sort of way to convey that through dancing!

Bokuto heard Yachi begin the song, and he waited, holding his breath as they reached the spot where Akaashi would begin--

Akaashi didn't begin.

Bokuto, frowning, turned to look and found him frozen, staring wide eyed at the crowd. Oh no. In the midst of preparing and making the plan, he'd completely forgotten about Akaashi's stage fright.

He waved a hand for Yachi to stop and sprinted over, stopping right in front of Akaashi. "Are you okay?"

Akaashi shook his head, mouth moving wordlessly for a moment before he finally said, "I can't. I can't do this, Bokuto. Not with all those people staring at me." He gave the full auditorium one last look, then turned and began walking away.

"Akaashi, wait!" Bokuto grabbed his arm, pulling him back in. Akaashi looked helplessly up at him, and Bokuto smiled softly. "Hey, 'Kaashi. Look at me. I got you. Just look at me. Like the first time we sang together!" Akaashi watched him, worried, and Bokuto kept smiling. "Just like the first time. Like kindergarten."

"That metaphor doesn't work here, Bokuto," Akaashi whispered, and Bokuto shrugged. 

"So? Makes sense to me. Just look at me, and we'll get through this and rock the house and be the best thing Nekomata has ever seen. Okay?"

There was a pause where Bokuto actually thought Akaashi was going to leave him alone on stage. But then he saw Akaashi take a deep breath and nod, squaring his shoulders. Bokuto squeezed Akaashi's arm before he let it go. "Just look at me."

With a quick wave, Yachi once again started playing, and this time, Bokuto started singing. They were trading off just the first couple lines, but Akaashi adjusted easily, and sang the next line. As Bokuto knew they would, a hush fell over the crowd as they listened to him. Personally, he thought Akaashi sounded like an angel, and now the whole school would know, too.

_"But your faith, it gives me strength, strength to believe…"_

_"We're breaking free!"_

Bokuto kept his eye contact with Akaashi all the way through the first chorus, smiling through his singing. As they hit the second verse, Akaashi broke into a shy smile as well, and Bokuto's heart absolutely exploded. As they sang, it dawned on him that he cared so much more about this boy than he ever thought possible. Akaashi was kind, and funny, and put up with his dumb moods, and encouraged him, and he'd supported him through the entire stupid mess involving auditions. 

He loved Akaashi.

The crowd began clapping to the beat as they hit the bridge, and Bokuto danced around on stage, only spinning Akaashi once. Started by Kuroo, the crowd was on their feet, waving their hands and dancing along.

_"You know the world can see us…"_

The song slowed down as it reached its end, and Bokuto closed the distance between him and Akaashi, seeing nothing but those blue blue eyes.

_"In a way that's different than who we are."_

The last note faded out, and the crowd exploded. Kuroo was jumping up and down in the front row, pulling Kenma along with him. From the back of the auditorium, Ukai was smiling, clapping with the crowd. Bokuto waved at them all, at the team, at all of his friends that had come to support him.

Yachi took a short bow next to Bokuto and Akaashi, and still beaming, Bokuto turned to look at him. "Hey, do you think we can name--"

Akaashi grabbed Bokuto on either side of his face and pulled him down into a kiss.

Bokuto's arms went instinctively around his waist, and decided that whatever he wanted to say could wait.

It all could wait for Akaashi.

**\- - -**

"West High goes up--it's a dump! Oh, but Nishinoya has picked it up again!"

The announcer's voice was like a buzzing noise in his ears. It was game point, and neither team would give. Bokuto glanced at the scoreboard, then sprinted back into position, waving to his setter. "Kageyama! Kageyama, to me!"

The kid actually had the balls to frown at him, but Bokuto didn't wait, instead jumping up into the set that was coming his way. There were three blockers on him--well, that was his fault for being so obvious--and with all his power, he spiked the ball.

The ball split the space between where the two blockers had failed to close the gap, and the ball went down just behind the ten foot line. Kuroo screamed from right beside him, and the next thing he knew, his entire team was jumping on top of him.

"That's game! East High has won the championship! Your East High Wildcats are champions! Congratulations, East High!"

The crowd was chanting, but Bokuto barely heard them as they shook hands with the other team. The team huddled up again, cheering as Ukai brought over the championship trophy and handed it to Bokuto.

"For game point."

Bokuto grinned, and then Daichi and Asahi had lifted him on their shoulders. The team gathered around them, yelling.

"What team!"

_"Wildcats!"_

"What team!"

_"Wildcats!"_

The crowd stormed the court, and Bokuto barely had the chance to see as Nekomata came up to Ukai.

"Bravo, Ukai."

Ukai grinned back, clapping the old man on the back. "Brava!"

"Bokuto for MVP!" Kuroo screamed, and Bokuto fell on him as Daichi purposefully dumped him. Kuroo laughed wildly, swinging him around. Bokuto giggled, then shrieked when he felt lips on his cheek. 

"Bro! What--"

"Guess again," said the voice over his shoulder, and Bokuto spun, almost knocking Akaashi in the face with the trophy.

"'Kaashi!"

Akaashi smiled back at him, one of his full smiles that made Bokuto's entire body feel warm. "Congrats, Wildcat."

Bokuto spun him around once in a hug, then put him down and pulled back. "What about your team?"

"We won as well."

"Hell yeah!" Bokuto shrieked, lifting the trophy above his head. "Double championship! Double championship!"

Kuroo watched them with a grin, then spotted Kenma trying to slink off out of the corner of his eye. He turned quickly, hurrying after him and grabbing the smaller boy by the back of the jacket. "Hey, hey! Wait up, Kenma."

Kenma turned, lifting one eyebrow. "What is it, Kuroo?"

"Wouldyougotothepartywithme?"

Kenma frowned. "What?"

Kuroo cleared his throat. Cool, calm, collected. He could be cool. "Would you come to the after party with me at Bokuto's? As my date?"

Kenma's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

Kuroo grimaced. "Sorry, sorry, I know. I know we just started building back up our friendship and it's probably really soon, but I think part of my problem last time was that I wanted you to be more than a friend and I didn't know how to deal with it so I just tried to push it all down and then I--"

"Tetsu."

Kuroo stopped, looking up at him. Kenma smiled softly at him. "I'd love to."

Kuroo blinked. "Did you agree to go to a public outing? With a crowd? Willingly? Just for me?"

Kenma rolled his eyes and scoffed, "Don't act so surprised." Kuroo couldn't stop the grin that split his face. He gave Kenma a tight hug, then went running off shouting for Bokuto.

Akaashi came up behind him, arms crossed but with a sly smile on his face. "Well, someone just made that pain in the ass very happy."

Kenma was still looking after Kuroo, trying and failing to suppress the smile. "Yeah, well. You know." Akaashi smiled at him, then the smile dropped as he saw who else was approaching them. Kenma turned, and his expression dropped as well. "Oikawa. What do you want?"

"To offer congratulations," he told them, hands on his hips. After seeing the looks on their faces, Oikawa lifted an eyebrow. "I'm serious. Congratulations, Akaashi, you have the wonderful me as your understudy in case you can't make a show. So, I came to tell you to break a leg."

Kenma pulled back while Akaashi's eyes widened. "Is that a threat?"

Oikawa rolled his eyes. "Oh, god, I have so much to teach you about the theater. No, Akaashi, it isn't a threat. It's a saying that means good luck." Akaashi nodded, then offered his hand to shake. Oikawa took it, then pulled back quickly. "Well, that's my quota for niceness for the night. Have fun at your celebration, mind your windpipes." He moved on quickly into the rest of the crowd, meaning to find Bokuto, but someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"Hey, Oikawa."

Oikawa rolled his eyes, turning to find Iwaizumi. "Yes? How can I help you?" He hoped the iciness of his tone would cover up the blush on his cheeks. Like some sort of weird, watchful guard dog, Ushijima appeared over his shoulder.

Iwaizumi cleared his throat. "Sorry you didn't get the lead. I thought your performance was good. You sing well. It's a lot of talent, and I really admire that."

Oikawa gave him a 'duh' look. "And why wouldn't you? Now, bye."

"Wait!" Oikawa turned back to Iwaizumi pulling a bag of cookies out of his volleyball bag. "I made you these."

Oikawa took one look at the stinky socks in his bag and pulled a face. "Ew."

Ushijima took the cookies gently, looking back at Iwaizumi. "Good game. You played well."

Iwaizumi smiled back. "Thanks, Ushijima."

The bouncing of a volleyball caught their attention, and they turned to see Bokuto tossing the ball to Yachi. "Hey, composer! Here's the game ball. You deserve it."

Yachi barely managed to catch the ball, but still blushed. "T-Thank you, Bokuto!" She looked down at the ball, absolutely bewildered. What the heck was she supposed to do with this?

"Have you ever played before?"

Yachi's head snapped up, looking in front of her to find quite possibly the prettiest girl she had ever seen. She opened and closed her mouth, willing something, anything to come out. Nada. Zilch. No bueno.

The girl smiled at her, pushing her glasses back up her nose. "You've got the build to be a good libero. Here, let me show you. I'm the manager for the team, my name is Kiyoko. It's nice to meet you, Bokuto's told me all about your work."

Across the gym, Bokuto shot her an exaggerated two thumbs up. Yachi thought she was going to pass out.

 

Slowly but surely, the gym cleared out, leaving only Iwaizumi standing around and looking up at the scoreboard. He wanted to remember every moment of this game, now that the season was over.

The door slammed opened, quickly followed by a, "Hey! You!"

Iwaizumi turned, confused, and saw Oikawa standing in the gym, something in his hands. "Yeah?"

"This!" Oikawa thrust whatever was in his hand in his direction. "This is the best cookie I have ever eaten! In my entire life! And I've eaten plenty of cookies! I need you to make more for me, right now, immediately!"

Iwaizumi watched him for a second. "How do you feel about creme brulee instead?"

"Is it as good as these cookies?"

"Better."

Oikawa smiled slowly, feeling a blush start to creep into his cheeks again. "Deal."

**\- - -**

After searching most of the inside, Akaashi finally found Bokuto sitting on the stairs of his back porch, looking up at the sky. Akaashi watched his still form for a second, then smiled, approaching him.

"Is this another secret hideout?"

Bokuto jumped, looking back. As he saw it was Akaashi, he grinned, patting the step next to him. "Nah, not enough plants. What are you doing out here?"

"Looking for you," Akaashi told him honestly. "What are _you_ doing out here?"

"Thinking."

"About what?"

Bokuto shrugged. "The future, mostly. Stuff I wanna do with you. College. What we're gonna do about an apartment when I'm an Olympic athlete. Stuff like that."

Akaashi shook his head with a grin. First children, now moving in together. There was no stopping the Bokuto Express. "Those are still very far away. Why don't we focus on plans for this summer, first?"

Bokuto nodded in agreement, humming and leaning his head on Akaashi's shoulder. It was a quiet night, save for the noise that trickled out through the doorway from the party. The stars were shining brightly, but not as bright as the feeling in Akaashi's chest. He couldn't help but feel like he had somehow become the luckiest guy in the world.

"Hey, what would you think about working at a country club this summer?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao this was a trip. maybe now i'll finally get bop to the top out of my head. come yell at me on tumblr at asahiwasabi


End file.
